Rise to Power
by InsertHilariousPenNameHere
Summary: [SI] A young man finds himself in the body of his counterpart in Earth 16. Look on, as his desperate attempts to make things better only seem to send them spiralling into despair.
1. Chapter 1

_**Rise To Power**_

 **Hveðrungr**

 _Do you know the problem with the gods of your world, child?_

 _I do. I know their problems, and the problems people have with reconciling them with reality. I know the true meaning of godhood._

 _The essence of godhood is perfection. The power and knowledge to do anything, without limits. True perfection of body, mind, and soul._

 _Yet the problems people have are the imperfections of our reality. We live in an imperfect world, supposedly created by a perfect god. There are problems that could easily have been fixed by people, had they been gods._

 _You once believed in a god, didn't you? Yet one day the reality of it all hit you, in one wave of tragedy after another. Death, despair, loss, fear, hatred and destruction._ That _is the reality you live in._

 _You asked questions. 'If god is perfect, why has he not fixed everthing?' You were told that god works in mysterious ways._

 _Yet god is perfect. He could have found a way to combine true will and the perfection of the world – he is the embodiment of it, after all._

 _And so you stopped believing. Because it was a choice between an imperfect god – not a god at all, in truth – or an uncaring god that you could not pray to. It wasn't a choice._

 _The problem with the gods in your stories is that they had perfection, and yet acted imperfectly. You saw this and wondered why. You presumed superior capabilities. And that secret arrogance grew, that belief that if you had the power you could do better._

 _You were wrong. But that arrogance remained._

 _So I present to you this power. Perfection of body, but not of mind or soul. I cast you out into worlds in need, and charge you with improving them. If you can do so, your power will remain. Should you fail, you will constantly wander in desperation, seeking forgiveness for your arrogance._

 _You presumed superiority. Now you will be shown inferiority._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was awake instantly, shocked into alertness by the harsh beeping of the alarm clock. I tried to yawn and groan at the same time, reluctantly tossing off my covers and standing. I rubbed my finger into the corner of my eye, gouging out the crust that had formed overnight, before flicking it into some dark corner of the room.

I trudged over to the window, gazing out into the city. Metropolis. My home. I'd lived here my whole life, hadn't ventured out once. I was a city boy through and through. Hell, I'd even been up close to Superman, once or twice.

What... What's going on? This isn't...

I let out a half-snort, half-grunt, and let the small smile that had crept onto my face wash away. This was no time for reminiscing, after all. I wasn't doing so well. Just out of high school, and trying to get a job without going to University. I couldn't afford it. Any time I bring up the fact I haven't gone to uni, I might as well have told them my greatest accomplishment was a certificate stating that, 'Alex got the most gold stars throughout his time in kindergarten. Well done, Alex!'

Unemployed, and with hospital bills to pay, too. I'd interviewed for so many jobs in the past month, but had been rejected by all. If I didn't get this reporter job at the Daily Planet, I was screwed. So, incredibly, _screwed._

This... This isn't right. I don't live in _Metropolis,_ that's a _fictional city_. It doesn't exist!

I padded through the door to my bedroom and straight into the main area of my apartment, the kitchen/sitting room. There was room with a shower and a toilet just to the right of my bedroom, with the main area of the apartment on the left. The door was at the end of the main area, directly across from my bedroom. I took this all in with a glance before heading straight into my bathroom for a shower.

I... I don't have an apartment. I only just left secondary school! In England! I turned eighteen a couple of months ago, for god's sake!

I cleaned quickly and efficiently before the stupid boiler started giving me cold water, firmly turning the shower off once I left. I didn't need that utilities bill so high again, especially with all that student debt hanging over my head.

I shook my head and put on a suit and tie, carefully combing my hair into a slightly less unruly state. I had dark hair that tended to grow up and out rather than down, which if left long enough would give me something of a bouffant style. Luckily, I didn't need to shave yet – there was barely a wisp of sideburns on my face, and chin and upper lip were clean shaven. I nodded, before grabbing everything I needed – phone, wallet and keys, and heading out. I decided not to take the bus – the job interview I was heading for wasn't far away, so I could walk there.

I can't believe it, I don't understand what's happening, and I can't control what I'm doing... This isn't right!

I turned right at the next corner, humming a little under my breath as I strolled. I was hopeful, today.

I paused, and looked behind me. Huh. Took a wrong turn. Guess I needed to pay more attention to where I was going. I shook my head, and turned back, before crossing the street and heading the the fifteenth interview of the month – a job at the Daily Planet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm sorry, Mr. Carroll, but I don't think you're right for us." The man across the table from me smiled tightly, as if to say, 'I know you did your best, but we don't want you.'

I nodded, returning the same tight smile. I'd known about half way through that they were winding up to a rejection. I'd just hoped that maybe I could salvage it, but... No such luck. I reached across the table to shake his hand, said my goodbyes, and left, opening the door and turning right without looking. I bumped into someone coming down from that way, and I stumbled back a bit. The guy I bumped into blinked and looked a little staggered as well.

Holy fucking shit... There's no way that's motherfucking Clark Kent!

"Clark Kent?" I said, surprised. Not just at bumping into the guy, but having his name somehow jump onto my lips.

He was a dorky looking guy with glasses and meticulously combed hair, and he jerked back slightly in surprise. "Sorry, do I know you?"

"..." I paused trying to think of where I knew the guy from. "I, uh, I was trying for a job here, and I did my research before I came." I nodded assuredly, remembering now. I made sure I knew the people who worked here, that's right. "You're a reporter."

"Ah, yes, yes I am." He smiled, a little shakily, before shaking my hand. _Weak grip_ , I noticed. "So, do you think you, ah, got the job?" He asked politely.

I shook my head ruefully, giving him a wry smile. "No, unfortunately. But, uh, maybe I'll see you around." I nodded to him, he nodded back, and I left. Time to visit the hospital.

Wait, what?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, mu-" I cleared my throat slightly. "Mom. I've been meaning to come down and see how you were doing, really, I have. Guess things have been kinda hectic lately, what with me trying to find a new job. But other than that, things have been pretty good. No girls in my life yet, though!" I chuckled weakly as I took a seat at my mum- my mom's bedside. "Still, I'm not giving up hope. On the job _or_ the girls!" I laughed again, but it quickly fell short. "Or you, mum."

What the hell isthis?

I stared down at my mother's comatose form. She'd been like this for moths now, ever since that drunk driving _asshole_ had mounted the kerb and hit her. She hadn't been to banged up, physically, but it had apparently brought on some kind of dormant issue with her brain, that both left her in a coma and in danger of death. Apparently, we were lucky to have caught it so early on.

I didn't feel lucky. Hospital bills were being paid by what little money the family had left, but soon they'd mount up and I wouldn't be able to pay. I dreaded what would happen when that day came.

This isn't right. That's _my_ mother. What the hell is she _doing_ here?!

"Don't worry though, mum." I smiled down at her slack face, brushing a blond lock of hair out of her eyes. "The doctor's say you're doing better, and that with a few more months, you'll be just-"

An explosion rocked the building, and I was thrown across the room as the hospital exploded. I slammed into the far wall, my head smacking into the concrete hard enough to make me black out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I roused myself woozily. My hand to my head, I rose shakily to my feet. I looked around blearily, but... something must have been wrong with my vision, because all I saw was... _rubble_. I shook my head, looking more closely. It _was_ rubble. This whole wing of the hospital had been reduced to... to... to _nothing._ I looked around, and saw that the rest of the hospital was still standing, but _something_ had happened to this part. Something had destroyed this part.

No! Where's my mother! Where is she!

I frantically searched through the rubble of the hospital, trying to find her. Intellectually, I knew that if she was under here, then she was probably... Dead, but I couldn't give up hope. I had to keep searching-

I overturned a rock to find a limp hand, scarred and cut by the explosion. I kept throwing away more and more rock, digging up the rest of the body behind that arm, hoping that it was someone else, that it wasn't my mother, that it was someone who _didn't mean something to me-_

No...

When I uncovered the rest of the body, crushed and torn beyond repair, I nearly gave up. But I kept digging, because I _had to know for sure_. I couldn't just leave it to chance...

Not my mother...

I fell back, tears pouring down my face as I realised that my mother would never get up again. The knowledge that this was the end of-

"Come on, Superman! Just _try_ it!" A voice roared out. Shakily, I raised my head, looking up to see what was going.

Metallo...!

The supervillain Metallo, the one who fought Superman... He blew up this hospital to... To draw out _Superman..._?!

He killed my mother...!

He killed my mum...

This isn't happening... I won't let this happen!

Something inside me _broke_.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Metallo was unsure quite _what_ had happened. The attack on the hospital had gone off without a hitch, and already people were desperately calling police, taking photos and calling out for Superman to come and save them. The big, blue boy scout would be along soon enough.

Then something hit him from behind. His first thought had been that Superman had decided to sneak attack him – but that wasn't his style.

Metallo didn't exactly feel pain – everything had a sense of... numbness to it. But he recognised the fact that he was now flying through the air, up and over Metropolis, and he was slowly beginning to fall.

He did get a good look at what had hit him. A floating man in a torn and damaged pinstripe suit, a snarl twisting his face into a visage of fury. Metallo gave the robotic equivalent of a surprised blink – as far as he knew, there weren't any other flying brick types in Metropolis. If this kid even was a hero.

He tried to turn in mid air and right himself for landing, but the suit blurred and slammed into him again, so hard that the metal of his impervious body buckled. He was knocked into the sky again, even higher.

 _Only a Kryptonian could have this kinda power, right?_ He thought, growing worried. _In that case, some Kryptonite should..._

The casing for his power source slid open, revealing the green rock to the world. Emerald light shone out, playing over the suit briefly – to no noticeable effect.

There was no time to process this- the suit was already blurring forward, slamming into him, but this time he gripped onto his metal body. The effect of being thrown back, and then grabbed before he could start moving, created a whiplash effect that, while not doing much actual damage, was sort of... unnerving. His power source casing was still open, but it wasn't having an effect on this man in a torn suit.

"Why?!" The suit snarled at him. "Why did you attack that hospital?!" His grp was tight on Metallo's shoulders – he could feel the metal beginning to crumple beneath his grip, like so much paper to this strange new cape.

"Why else? To draw out SUPERMAN!" With that final word yelled, Metallo twisted in the suit's grip and slammed his fist into the side of his head... To no discernible effect. "What...? How are you...?"

He breathed, shocked. "Who the fuck are you?"

"Me?" The suit's glare darkened to levels that almost scared Metallo. "I'm the guy whose going to _kill you._ "

With that, the suit's grip tightened even more, bunching up the metal beneath his fingers and causing an ear-splitting screech to be emitted from his sides. Then the suit tensed his arms, and _pulled_.

Metallo's body came apart in a wrenching, screaming squeal, and the cyborg that had once been John Corben came apart in his hands.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I tore Metallo apart like ripping up a piece of paper. It was effortless. Sickeningly so, and I wondered if maybe it was the fact that it was so easy was what made me sick. I shook my head, before swooping over to land on the roof of a nearby building. I dropped the one of the two halves of Metallo's body – the part containing his Kryptonite power source and his head – and begin to work on crushing the other half of his body into a ball.

By the time I had worked it into a sphere about he size of a basketball, someone had swooped up and landed on the other side of the roof. I dropped the basketball of Metallo and raised my eyes to look directly up at... Superman.

"You okay there?" He asked. "Metallo didn't hurt you?"

I shook my head. "No. I'm... fine."

"Okay." Superman smiled. "You did a pretty good job fighting him out there."

I shook my head. "It... It wasn't a fight. He couldn't hurt me-" I almost tagged an 'any more' onto the end of that before continuing, "but I could hurt him."

Superman nodded. "If I may ask..." He seemed hesitant. "What did he do?"

I paused. "He..." I began, then raised my hand to rub my eyes. _Christ, I'm crying in front of Superman._ "He killed my mum."


	2. Chapter 2

**Ἁρμονία**

"We're putting together a team, for people like you." The man sitting across the table from me stated. I nodded, but didn't say anything else, eyes downcast. "For young people to learn to control their powers."

I nodded again still remaining silent. Batman continued anyway. "You'll have to choose a hero name to hide your identity. It probably won't matter, given that this team mainly deals with covert matters, but-"

I nodded, waving off the explanation. I understood why I needed a hero name. The number of villains we'd encounter? Probably for the best that I wasn't using my real name. Not that there was anyone to use it against, but an attack on my apartment building probably wouldn't endear me to the neighbours.

Besides... I _knew_ what the villains here, in this world, could do. I don't know how I knew, but... sometimes I would just _know_ things. Things that I shouldn't have any way of knowing. Like, for example, that Batman was Bruce Wayne, billionaire and CEO of Wayne Enterprises. And Superman was Clark Kent, that dorky reporter I'd met when I'd interviewed at the Daily Planet.

Christ. How would I get a job, now? I still needed to pay for the apartment.

"Additionally, you will be provided with any equipment you need, including a costume, as well as a monthly stipend to use to pay for your apartment and any other expenses." Batman paused to regard me. "I'll look into setting up an alibi job to disguise the fact that you're getting money from an outside source."

I nodded, still remaining silent. Batman finally stood. "Well, the team are currently on a mission, but they should be returning any minute now. Let me debrief them and then I'll introduce you."

I nodded, and Batman showed me to the quarters I'd be able to use if, for any reason, I was unable or unwilling to return home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"... battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. How you adjust to the unforeseen is what determines success. And how you choose who leads, determines character." Batman walked to stand in front of them, surveying them all with a stony gaze, despite his... comforting words. "Now, I am glad to inform you that a new member will be joining your team."

The ginger kid took a half-step forward, a grin spreading onto his face. "Did Speedy finally come to his senses and agree to join the team?!" He asked.

"No." Batman responded curtly. The ginger – Kid Flash, I reckoned – slumped. "He is new to his abilities, only having had them for a few days. As such, I expect you to treat him with respect and courtesy, and help him with any matters of training."

He turned to me and nodded, a silent gesture to emerge. I stepped out into the light, a half-smile on my face. "Hi there." I said, waving slightly. The whole situation felt a little... awkward. It was clear, from the report at least, that this recent mission had allowed them to affirm their bonds of friendship, and having to accept a new member into the group was sure to create tension.

Or at least, so I had read on that, 'making friends with new people' tutorial. Christ, it had been so long since I'd had to make new friends. I'd had the same few friends from primary to secondary school- wait, had I? God, my memory was _terrible_. No, I'd made some new friends at the beginning of high school, since me and my middle school friends went to different places.

Without warning, Kid Flash was standing right in front of me, staring up directly at my face intensely. Examining me, evaluating my worth, with something of an annoyed pout on his face. The others stood around uncertainly, looking at me with guarded looks on their faces.

"I'll leave you to it, then." Batman finally said, nodding again before stalking over to the zeta tube and disappearing in a flash of light.

And there went the only adult figure to save me from this place. Fuuuuck.

"So what's your name?" Kid Flash- Wally, that was. His name was _Wally_.

"Uh, Alex." I responded slightly hesitantly, rubbing the back of my head. "And you're, uh, Kid Flash I guess." I smiled slightly.

Wally flapped a hand at me, seemingly happy with what he saw. "Just call me Wally. And what's your cape name?" He asked, as we both walked into the centre of the room.

"I've been thinking of using, uh, Comet." I replied as I stood facing the group. Batman hadn't mentioned any particular team name, so they were just 'group' or 'team' for now. And hopefully I'd be a part of that team.

After quick introductions, where I met Aqualad - "Just call me Kaldur," - Robin - "Sorry, have to keep up the secret identity. Batman's orders." - Miss Martian - "Technically my name is M'gann, but if I'm in disguise just call me Megan!" - and Superboy - "..." They seemed nice enough. Superboy seemed a little... standoffish, though, ignoring my handshake and not giving his real name.

"So, Alex, what exactly are your powers?" Kaldur asked politely, and everyone seemed to lean in to hear. Except Superboy, that is.

"I can fly, and I've got super strength." I replied. "Hence Comet." Kaldur nodded in understanding. "Oh, and uh, as far as I can tell, I'm completely impervious to harm."

I'd tested it, as much as one _could_ test it without worrying about dying. No knives had cut my skin, needles broke, and when I dropped the leg of my bed onto my hand, I'd only felt it in a 'there's something putting pressure on my hand' sense.

 _That_ got their attention. "What, completely?" Robin asked, eyebrows raised. "Not even, like, Kryptonite?"

I shook my head. "I'm not Kryptonian." I paused. "Well, they're pretty sure I'm not. They couldn't do an X-Ray because the, uh, radiation couldn't get through my skin."

M'gann – should I try and refer to her as Megan? - smiled widely. "Well, in that case, it looks like you don't have much to worry about on missions!"

I smiled. "I guess not."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spending time with the team was... Interesting, to say the least. Mount Justice was kinda of like an after school club for Wally and Robin, but Kaldur, M'gann, and Superboy lived there. It lead to an interesting dynamic, given that I was spending the majority of my time there. After all, I wasn't looking for a job or going to work or... Anything. Plus, I'd fallen out of touch with all of my old friends, so I was working on trying to befriend the team.

I was the oldest, at seventeen, of the group. Wait, no, eighteen. I had a birthday recently, didn't I. Talk about terrible memories. Kaldur was sixteen, but mature fir his age. M'gann was technically forty-eight, but the equivalent of a sixteen year old, since she aged slower, being a Martian. Wally was sixteen, Robin was fourteen, and Superboy was, what, a few months old? But then, he was sixteen physiologically, so.

Still, I'd been trying to connect with the others, as much as possible. Robin and Wally were probably the members I knew the least well, since they had other responsibilities – Wally with schoolwork, Robin with that _and_ his Batman partnership. M'gann, however, was friendly and kind, and helped me work on my flight.

Typically heroes would use the swimmer pose, not just for the more instinctive movements, but so that their insignia could be seen by those below, reassuring them and ensuring that villains would be a little more cautious.

Of course, the upright pose was also used occasionally, mainly for the intimidation factor. Since wind resistance didn't seem to be a problem for me – it was like I was immune to _physics –_ and we'd mainly be on convert ops, and been using that more often.

Kaldur was easy to get along with – despite his apparent solemnity, he was laid back and calm. One of those natural leader, best friends with everyone types. You know the kind.

Superboy was... Less easy to get along with. He was sullen, moody, and angry, and seemed to resent just about everything. I could kind of see where he was coming from though. After all, he was a clone of Superman but the guy wouldn't even give him the time of day.

Still, we were the only ones anywhere _close_ to each other in terms of strength – although I'd seen that, if I wasn't holding back, I'd probably give him some injuries to think about – so we were... Sparring buddies, of a sort. Neither of us really knew that much about how to fight, and none of the others had superstrength, so they couldn't help.

Still, we heard that the league were sending down a trainer to help us fight pretty soon, so hopefully we'd get some actual fighting experience.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"... Anyone see what he did wrong?" Black Canary asked, turning to face the group. Martian Manhunter and Black Canary were here for training, something I didn't totally agree with him. Canary was good at fighting, sure, but one stray hit from me or Superboy and she could lose an arm.

"Ooh! Ooh! He hit on teacher and got served?" Robin answered, grinning gleefully at Wally's smackdown, as Canary helped him up.

"He allowed me to dictate the terms of-" Canary began, only to be cut off by Superboy.

"Oh, please." Superboy threw out. "With my power, the battle's always on my terms. I'm a living weapon." He clenched his fists in front of him. "And this is a waste of my time."

Well, I wouldn't have put it quite so rudely, but... I kind of agreed with him. Canary opened her mouth to retort, but... I'd spent time with the team, and my opinion was valid.

"Actually, I'm inclined to agree with Superboy." I said aloud, surprising the group – Superboy as well, although he nodded soon after.

"And why is that?" Canary asked, a calculating eyebrow raised. Wait, where her eyebrows and hair different colours? Is that a thing?

"Well... Super strength requires a different style of fighting to normal strength. With that, me and Superboy usually have the strength advantage. You, however, have to fight back against, generally, physically superior opponents." I replied after a beat. I tried to phrase it as kindly as possible – I hadn't meant any insult. Superboy was nodding.

Black Canary didn't look happy. I cringed. "... No offense?"

Robin hissed in a breath between his teeth. "Oh, boy. Bad idea, Comet." He said in a stage whisper. "Bad idea."

"Comet, I understand that your abilities mean you're tougher, but you will always have something to learn. Why don't you step into the ring and I'll teach you." She smirked. I sighed and stepped forward hesitantly, taking up a ready stance half-remembered from a few weeks of karate lessons when I was eight.

Body turned to the side to create a smaller target, right arm forward. Both arms low, and with your left at waist height, so that you can twist and put all your weight behind a punch.

Black Canary also stepped into a stance, something that more looked like it was from boxing. Bent knees, arms up, fists at the ready. We faced each other, not too far apart.

I wasn't sure what was supposed to happen now. Should I throw a punch? Wait for her to throw one? Would we just stand here facing each other for ages?

I glanced to the side, trying to evaluate the reactions of the others in the group. Were they bored? Interested? Did they think this was a waste of time, or that I was wrong? Superboy watched with an inscrutable expression, Robin with barely contained glee, Wally seemed like he was losing interest, Kaldur was solemn as ever, and M'gann looked... Worried, if anything.

Apparently, that glance was the only opening that Canary needed. She darted forward, getting inside my – admittedly kinda pathetic – guard in an instant. I stepped back, trying to put distance between us, and her hand went to the lapels of my shirt. _Is she trying to go for a judo throw?_ I wondered. It wouldn't work. I could remain standing using my flight, prevent her from using the leverage to throw me, or I could go with it and fly away instead of hitting the ground.

I resisted just long enough to let her know that that was pointless, then grabbed her wrists, holding them loosely – at least, for a guy with super strength. She tried to break my grip by throwing her hands down, breaking out of the hold at the weakest part of the grip – where thumb met finger.

It didn't work on a guy with super strength, though. That was my advantage here – grappling. Throwing a punch would be useless against anyone with superior agility, but if you got a hold on them, there was nothing they could do. As Black Canary kept trying to break my grip, I slowly begin to rise into the air.

Clearly she'd underestimated me, assuming that she'd either be able to avoid my strikes, or that she'd be able to use my own strength against me. Well, she'd been wrong.

As I rose into the air, she began trying more and more desperate tactics – I was dangling her a decent height off the ground now, so she had to rest her feet on my own, which provided her platforms to stand on. Canary eventually brought up her own legs between us, bracing them against my chest and trying to push off.

It didn't work. Realistically, I knew that she'd probably have used her Canary cry or whatever it was, disoriented me and gotten me to let go.

"Yield?" I asked politely, as she furiously tried to yank her arms away. She eventually stopped and rolled her eyes.

"Okay. I yield." She sighed, and I drifted back to the ground, letting go of her. She backed away slightly, still looking annoyed. Superboy looked smug.

"To be honest," I started hesitantly, unsure if I should drive my point home, "none of us are really suited to your type of teaching."

"... Really." Canary said in a deadpan, rubbing her wrists. I winced- I'd really tried to be as gentle as I could.

"Me and Superboy are too strong – one hit that you couldn't dodge and you might lose an arm." I began. "Plus, I can fly. Miss Martian can fly, turn invisible, shapeshift _and_ has telekinesis. There's probably no baseline human that can beat her. Aqualad has formal training in the Atlantean military, and uses his Water Bearers besides – when you have any weapon you need, hand to hand training becomes a little unnecessary. Robin has his whole 'I'm Batman's protégé, by the time you punch I'm already gone' thing. Kid Flash is probably the only one who could benefit from your training – and he has superspeed, so it might not even be necessary."

"... Really." Black Canary repeated, running her eyes over each of the team in turn. Martian Manhunter looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here right now.

"Fighting at superspeed is probably a lot different to fighting at human speed." I elaborated. "He could punch you thirty times in the head before you had any time to react."

Black Canary pursed her lips. "I do see your point. I'll bring this up with Batman, but until then-"

A screen opened up to the side of the training area, with Batman's voice over the speaker. "Batman to the cave."

 _Speak of the devil, and he shall appear._ I though to myself as we all gathered around the screen. Batman continued.

"Five hours ago, a new menace attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary. The attacker was capable of studying and then duplicating the powers and abilities of its opponents. Arrow called in reinforcements, which nearly proved disastrous, as our foe gained more and more power with each new combatant." Batman paused.

"Woah..." Wally breathed. "One guy, with the powers of the entire League?"

"In the end, it took eight Leaguers nearly four hours to defeat and dismantle the android."

"An android?" Robin burst out. "Who made it? T. O. Morrow?"

"Good guess, Robin." Batman replied. In snorted under my breath. Of course he complimented Robin at some simple guess. "But Red Tornado doesn't think so."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the briefing, and Aqualad's receipt of the coordinates, the team moved out to Litchfield County, where the decoy trucks would be deployed from. Me, Robin, and Superboy would be on a team, whilst Miss Martian, Kid Flash, and Aqualad would be on the other.

My first mission. God _damn_ do I hope nothing goes wrong.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hlín**

"... the opposite of aster?" Robin asked over the headsets in our helmets. I blinked at the question – we'd maintained radio silence pretty much since we'd left, so it had come out of nowhere.

I'd never ridden a motorcycle before – I didn't even have a driver's license. Still, Robin was riding it, and he was fourteen – Miss Martian too, and she'd probably never seen a motorcycle in real life before. They pretty much drove themselves – any accidentally too-sharp turns tended to smoothen out before they became dangerous. Still, I was a little anxious.

"I, uh, I guess so..." I frowned. Superboy remained silent. "You hoping this missions stays an 'aster,' then?"

"Heh." Robin replied, smirking. "I'm prepared if any 'dis' comes up."

Superboy kept silent, but I could see he had a slight smile on his face.

"What are you so happy about, chuckles?" Robin asked as he noticed. I worried momentarily about not keeping his eyes on the road – I was fine, I could fly – but decided that Batman had probably given him a crash course in road safety.

Heh. Crash course.

"Just glad that the League are finally taking us seriously." He glanced over in my direction. I checked over my shoulder just in case he was looking at something to my left. "She comes into our base thinking she can tell us how to fight, and you get her to sign off getting someone more suitable to teach us."

I smiled slightly – it seemed that Superboy, at least, was appreciative of my efforts.

"Well, I'm kinda surprised, actually." Robin piped up. "She underestimated you when she got in close, but you just neutralised her as a threat so easily."

I nodded. "She was trying to go for a throw over the hip, but, well, I can fly. Didn't work too well."

"Don't get too cocky." Robin warned me. "Next time? She won't underestimate you, she'll make you go to her."

"He could still take her." Superboy argued. "It's like Comet said – he only needs one punch to take her out permanently."

"Well, that's not exactly what I said..." I protested hesitantly. On the one hand, Superboy was advocating my abilities- which was quick, for someone I'd only gotten to know recently. On the other, he was advocating my ability to defeat a Leaguer. I had mixed feelings about that. "See, my point was-"

That was when the flying robot monkeys attacked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There must have been eleven just clinging to the back of the truck, with even more attacking the front.

"Uh... Robin, what's the plan of action?" I asked nervously. Since we were splitting up into two teams, Aqualad had appointed him as the leader of our trio. He had the most experience, after all.

"Stop the monkeys!" He yelled back, and pressed something on his motorbike. The back part dropped away, unfolding into some kind of flying wheel.

Me and Superboy didn't bother – he leapt up onto the truck, and I took to the air.

I didn't have the advantage there, though, and I was quickly swarmed by Ivo's flying monkeys. They were easily dislodged, but the sheer numbers made them... _Irritating_ to fight. I spun in midair at high speed to get the majority off me, then grabbed hold of several and began crushing them. They felt like they were made of... I don't know... something that crushes really easily. Paper, I guess.

Of course, the laser eyes didn't help Superboy or Robin. When they began to cut into the back of the van, Robin's battle mode bike and his flying wheel-thing began to shoot them off of the back. The swarm of monkeys – what was the collective word for a group of monkeys? A troop? - attacked his flying wheel and sent it careening into the field. His bike was was also swarmed and began swerving off the road.

"Robin!" I yelled, and soared after it. "Jump!"

He leapt off of the vehicle into the open air, and I swooped down to catch him under the armpits. When more monkeys beset us, Robin took out a knife, quickly and efficiently cutting down the horde.

I dropped on the top of the van alongside Superboy, where more monkeys were attacking with lasers. I dropped down behind the van, trying to match my flight speed with the vans, before aiming precise, careful jabs into each of the monkeys – enough to destroy them, but not so hard as to breach the back of the van.

Then the troop attacked the wheels, and the whole van flipped over onto its side, flying through the air. I gritted my teeth and swooped down, landing just in front of it and catching it. It's momentum nearly flung me over – I hadn't quite gotten used to grabbing things heavier than me – but Superboy intervened at the last minute, catching the other edge of the van. We carefully lowered it to the road.

"Thanks," I breathed over the radio. He gave me a brief nod, before we both returned to crushing monkeys.

Another group managed to breach the back of the van, even as Robin scythed through their numbers, cutting them down with twin batons. He clearly had training fighting several smaller opponents.

 _Why the hell would Batman train him for that?!_ I wondered, even as I stomped monkey head underfoot.

When five or so monkeys began flying off with our cargo, I took to the skies once more, quickly intercepting their flight and grabbing it back. I flew straight at the ground to crush a monkey between my shoulder and the dirt, before spinning and slamming the box into another.

I kept hold of the box as we fought through a seemingly endless horde of monkeys, crushing, breaking, and ripping our way through their gradually dwindling numbers.

When Superboy slammed his hands together to pulp the final remaining monkey, we all stopped, panting. Scrap metal, wreckage of the hundreds of robots we'd destroyed, littered the road for as far as I could see along the road we'd came. I dropped the box on the floor as Robin pulled the driver out of the front. He was bleeding from a nasty gash on his forehead and looked unconscious.

The two soldiers that had been in the back of the van looked bruised, but okay.

We took a moment to catch our breath, before Aqualad's voice crackled over the radio.

"Aqualad to Robin, we've lost our cargo. How's the situation with you?"

"We've still got ours." Robin replied with a hit of smugness in his voice. "Those robot monkeys tried flying off with it, but Comet stopped 'em."

I grinned, adrenaline still pumping in my blood. I was shaking slightly with nervous energy.

"That's good news," Aqualad replied, not rising to Robin's bait. "But we don't know where those robots are taking the cargo."

"It's gotta be back to Ivo, right?" I asked, confused. "He doesn't have half the components he needs. He won't be able to put the android back together."

"No, but as the inventor, he will know to rebuild it." Aqualad replied calmly. My face flushed with heat as I realised.

"Oh yeah..." I mumbled weakly. Robin chuckled.

"Well, they had to have been tracking the cargo somehow, right? Or we would have known that the decoy trucks were being attacked." Robin mused. "So they had to have known that the real components were in these trucks."

"Which means...?" Wally asked, sounding annoyed.

"Which means," Robin replied, as he plugged something from his wrist into the back of a monkey. _Convenient_ , I thought. "That the parts have GPS!" He crowed delightedly. "Which means that I can track the parts that were stolen from you guys!"

"Hey, you have two guys with superstrength, and one of em can fly!" Wally protested. "Of course you could stop flying robot monkeys."

Robin chuckled again, mockingly. "Well, the parts that were stolen seem to be following the road, but we can't be sure of their destination. We'll have to follow to see where they're headed."

"Kid Flash is the fastest on foot, and Comet is faster than Miss Martian in the air." Aqualad considered. "KF, Comet, you follow the parts, try to find where they're headed. If you find Dr. Ivo, do _not_ confront him. The rest of us will suit up and follow behind you, and join up with you later." He continued. "Go."

I rose into the air and started flying off. I had a last glimpse of Superboy looking inexplicably conflicted, before I left him behind and focused on the road ahead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kid Flash and I met up later on in the road. He was faster than me, but modified his speed so that he stayed level with my flight. I dropped lower to the ground to be closer.

"You doing okay, new guy?" Kid grinned, glancing at me. "That was the first real fight you've been in, wasn't it?" He sounded slightly... Condescending.

"... Actually, it wasn't." I said tersely. He was bringing up memories that I'd rather forget.

"Really? So who was your first fight against?" Kid Flash asked, sounding interested now.

"... Metallo. In Metropolis." I replied. When Wally waited for more details, I continued. "He blew up part of a hospital, so I... I attacked him and tore him in half."

"Woah..." Kid breathed. "That was you? You were on the news! But they blurred your face out... I can't believe I didn't make the connection! That was pretty brave, attacking Metallo like that. You couldn't have had your powers for long, right? You said you only found out you had them a few days ago."

"Yeah." I replied. "I... I didn't feel brave though. I didn't attack him because I thought it was the right thing to do."

"Then why-" Wally cut in, but I interrupted him.

"My mum was in the part of the hospital that got destroyed. She died, so I attacked him." I half-yelled at Wally, suddenly angry again. There was a period of silence after that.

"I'm... I'm sorry, man." Kid Flash said morosely. "I shouldn't have dug so-"

"It's fine," I interrupted again. "You didn't know."

"Still," he pressed, "I'm-"

"Hang on." I said, slowing down to bob in mid-air, one hand going to my ear to activate the radio. "The parts are slowing down... Stopping... Wait, they're moving again."

"Comet, there's a train nearby," Robin's voice replied over the radio. "The monkeys probably dropped the cargo off in one of the carriages.."

"Right," I replied. Then I flew off, following Robin's directions to the train, Kid Flash in close pursuit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 _*SCREE-EECH*_

The top of the train carriage was torn open with ease, as I drove one hand straight through the metal and used the other to create an opening. I dropped down into the carriage and moved to the side, taking in the carriage quickly. Kid Flash dropped down to stand beside me.

Behind us were various boxes stacked together, presumably mundane cargo heading for Gotham. But at the other end of the carriage... _Ivo._

The man was bent over a workbench, a solder in one hand, the other clad in some kind of mechanical gauntlet. The bench had the upper half of the androids body strewn across it, with various pieces of robotic monkey parts surrounding it. It looked like Ivo was trying to repair his android with parts from the monkeys.

More of Ivo's robot monkeys were poised above him, standing on various crates. Too late, I remembered Aqualad's orders to wait for reinforcements before confronting Ivo.

"Comet, I think we might be outnumbered..." Kid Flash muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

"Oh, look it is!" Ivo cackled as he looked up at our entrance. "The baby Flash and- well I don't think I recognise _you_. Comet, was it?" He gestured, and his robot monkeys took to the air.

"Say hello to my Mobile Optimal Neural Quotient Infiltrators?" He laughed again. "My MONQIs? They're eager to meet you. Why don't you play for a while – I'm nearly done, here, anyway!"

The troop of MONQIs took to the air, swarming over us. I didn't have enough space to take flight, so I relied on just my fists to take apart the robots. With me and Kid Flash, it didn't take long for us to dismantle them.

"Oh yeah!" Kid Flash exclaimed. "That's what happens when you mess with Comet and the Kid!"

"Access: Captain Atom." Came a monotone, computerised voice. Kid Flash turned around in surprise.

"Eh?" He asked, just in time to catch a bright yellow laser to the face, sending him crashing back to slam into the rear end of the carriage.

"Ah, _fuck_." I muttered, as I saw the partially completed android sitting up, one arm outstretched.

"Say hello to my amazing Amazo!" Ivo called out, stretching out his arms, a maniacal grin plastered on his face. "Of course, he's not quite as amazing as he might have been, but I doubt I'll need it for another hero with superstrength like yourself.

"Access: Red Tornado." Amazo uttered, and a whirlwind of red formed around his lower body, lifting him off the table and allowing him to move without his legs.

Amazo raised both arms and hit me with a blast of air, sending me flying back to slam into the rear of the carriage, where I dropped down to sit beside Kid Flash.

"Ow..." He muttered to me. "Let's not do that again..."

I nodded in sympathy.

"Access: Superman." Came that monotone voice, and I looked up in time to see a flying Amazo reach down and grab me by the shirt, yanking me up to face him.

"Amazo?" Dr. Ivo called out smugly. "Take out the heroes. Priority Alpha."

Amazo's whole body spun, once, twice, whirling me along with it. I let out a startled cry. Then Amazo released me, sending me careening _through_ the walls of the carriage and flying out into the open air. I managed to right myself as I flew, flipping into an upright position and quickly facing the carriage... Where Amazo quickly flew up and out of, still 'Accessing' Superman.

A blast of red lanced out from his eyes, and I quickly brought my hands up to shield my face in cross from. The red blasts slammed into my wrists and knocked me back, but I righted myself once more and flew towards Amazo, this time assuming the swimmer pose to present a smaller target. More red lasers blasted out of his eyes, but I was able to manoeuvre out of the way.

I drew an arm back in preparation for the encounter, and we clashed. My fist slammed into his palm, as Amazo was able to get his arm up in time to intercept me. I flew off to the side, backing away as Amazo flew clumsily after me. It looked like his lack of legs was throwing off his capabilities.

I easily outpaced him, spiralling up into the air and evading his eye beams. I didn't know if I was stronger than Superman – hell I probably wasn't. Didn't he tow a planet in the New 52?

… New 52? What the hell was that about? And Superman couldn't- GAH!

One of Amazo's eye beams slammed into me stomach and made me falter in the air. Dammit, I had to _focus_. I probably wasn't stronger than Superman, but Amazo was significantly slower and his eye beams were definitely weaker than Superman's. There must have been some core component in the other cargo box that Amazo was missing, weakening him.

This was the advantage we needed – Amazo was weaker than when he fought the League, so the team _should_ be able to deal with him.

"Comet! Kid Flash!" I heard Aqualad say over the comms. "We're here! What's going on?"

"Amazo – the android – is up and running. Ivo managed to fix him, and Comet is dogfighting with him." Kid Flash reported tersely, his usual jokey self more serious in the wake of this event.

"Comet, see if you can bring this Amazo closer to the ground, where we can bring the strength of the whole team against him." Aqualad ordered.

"Yessir!" I replied. "Also, the other cargo must have contained some vital component that Amazo needed to operate at full capacity. He is currently using the powers of Superman, but he is significantly slower and weaker than the actual Superman."

"That's good news, Comet. Good job keeping him occupied." Aqualad said.

I smiled to myself as I took a long, arcing loop away from Amazo and down towards the ground. Instead of following me, he let out one continuous eye beam, raking it across the mountainside as I flew. The beams cut into the mountain and caused rock to crumble away, causing an avalanche that fell to land on the train's carriages, crushing several compartments – including the one still containing Wally.


	4. Chapter 4

**Μελπομένη**

"Wally! No!" M'gann cried out as metal crumpled with a resounding crash.

"M'gann! Comet!" Aqualad's voice crackled over the radio. "What's happening?!"

"Amazo started an avalanche..." M'gann said, and we could hear the shocked sorrow in her voice. "It destroyed the train Wally was in..."

"..." There was only silence over the radio. "I see." Aqualad finally remarked. "... Stick to the plan. Comet, lure Amazo down to the ground. We can't help Kid Flash with that android flying around."

"Y-yessir." I replied, still shaken. I jinked up into Amazo's lane of sight to catch his attention, then tried to draw him down closer to the ground. This time he unleashed his eye beams and followed along my flight path at the same time.

I wasn't able to totally avoid Amazo's eye beams, since I couldn't see them without looking back and risking crashing. Still, my swimmer pose meant that they were most likely to hit my feet – which would hopefully only boost my speed.

I lead Amazo closer to the ground and turned a corner around a warehouse, before immediately backing up and pressing myself against it's wall. Amazo zoomed past, not realising that I had stopped. I took flight once more as he overtook me, putting on a burst of speed in order to close the distance and take hold of Amazo's ruined legs, quickly spinning around and throwing Amazo _through_ the warehouse – in a manner reminiscent of how he had thrown me through the walls of the carriage.

"Comet!" I heard Aqualad cry – not over the radio, but in real life. I looked around to see Aqualad leading Miss Martian, Robin and Superboy. "Amazo is-"

"Access: Martian Manhunter." Amazo uttered.

"Comet, look out!" Superboy yelled as I turned to see a giant fist slam directly into my torso, launching me back and into Aqualad.

I scrambled to my feet – using a little flight to get up. I looked up to see Superboy duking it out with Amazo. Superboy was barely avoiding Amazo's shapeshifted punches, and every other attack by Superboy was avoided by excessive use of Manhunter's phasing abilities.

The team – minus Kid Flash, whose absence was now even more noticeable – took up positions in a circle around Amazo. He paused in his attack and turned around. He observed each one of us in turn, and I briefly wondered if he'd copy any of our powers.

Instead, he rose into the air at an alarming speed. I nearly shot up after him, but Aqualad laid a hand on my arm. I looked at him questioningly.

"The last thing we need now is another air battle where the rest of the team can't help." He murmured, just loud enough for me to hear. "We need to lure him into a more advantageous position."

I nodded. We were at a stalemate with Amazo in the air like that – there was no way for anyone on the team to attack – no-one had particularly great long range abilities.

"Access: Black Canary." We stepped back in shock as Amazo plummeted down, only for him to let out an ear-piercing scream, sending us all to our knees. Amazo slammed into the ground, but the damage had been done – especially to Superboy. His enhanced senses left him writhing around in intense pain at the canary cry, even as the rest of us quickly recovered.

"Superboy!" M'gann cried out – her shapeshifting allowed her to recover the quickest, and she removed Superboy from the danger with her telekinesis.

I lifted off, hovering above Amazo whilst still clutching my ears. I opened my eyes to stare at the android as it twisted on the ground, manoeuvring its way into a sitting position. I shook my head, trying to focus, and glared down at the rising Amazo. I frowned, gritting my teeth, and focused. Amazo was right there, unprepared for an attack after incapacitating the team. I wound myself up for a strike.

"Access: Martian Manhunter." Amazo intoned and phased even as I strafed right through it.

 _Fuck_ , I cursed mentally. _We're getting destroyed by this guy!_

I spun around as I saw the android float off, phasing again as Robin tried a series of – what, bird-a-rangs? They weren't bats – a series of bird-a-rangs. I didn't know why Amazo bothered phasing instead of just blocking but some of them seemed slightly bulkier – some kind of device the android considered dangerous?

As the last of the birdarangs passed through Amazo's body, a yellow blur flashed past the group, stopping just in front of Amazo and revealing itself as... Kid Flash?

"Wally!" I yelled, as Amazo unphased – with Wally's arm still inside his head.

"GAAAHHH!"He screamed, as Amazo's head exploded, blowing Wally's hand into bloody chunks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"But... How did you escape the train carriage?" M'gann asked, as we sat around the living area of Mount Justice. "We saw Amazo cause an avalanche and destroy it."

"I nearly thought I would die." He said, scratching at his stump with his right hand. It was wrapped in bandages, but the League claimed that they were trying to find a healer as quickly as possible. "But this girl – Artemis – saved me. She pulled me out of the train before I could get crushed, but then she vanished." He shook his head. "Then I tried to join you, but, uh, I didn't know where you are."

Robin and Aqualad exchanged a look. "You know you have a tracker on your wrist, right?" Robin asked rhetorically, chuckling weakly.

Wally frowned, then tapped a few times on his non-bandaged wrist. A holographic screen popped up, with a cluster of green marks showing our position.

"Oh. Right." He frowned slightly, tapped again, and it disappeared. "Well, uh, anyway. I heard the scream that Amazo did, so headed over there as fast as I could. I saw that he was doing the Martian phasing thing, so I thought that if it unphased with my hand inside it- well, _something_ would happen. And it did!"

"Yeah, you lost your hand. How are you gonna explain that to the kids at school." Robin asked, trying to remain lighthearted.

"Uh... Boating accident?" He asked, stroking his chin with his hand.

The zeta tube started up, and the team as a whole looked to the entrance as League Members stepped through.

"Batman. Zero. Two. Martian. Manhunter. Zero. Seven. Green. Arrow. Zero. Eight. Black. Canary. One. Three. Red. Tornado. One. Six." The tube intoned.

We got to out feet as one, as the League members approached. Batman stepped ahead of the rest of the Leaguers, and the group gathered in the main area of Mount Justice for the debriefing. We'd already talked to Black Canary and Red Tornado separately about the situation.

"Team." Batman said, starting off without preamble. "I understand that despite being able to prevent Ivo from retrieving half the cargo, and despite eventually defeating the android, there were... Complications."

Aqualad looked down. "It's my fault, sir. I told Comet and Kid Flash to go ahead and scout out the Amazo situation. We underestimated the android and were unable to defeat it. It was my fault that Kid Flash had to-"

"No." Wally broke in, waving his- _stump,_ in the air. "It wasn't Aqualad's fault. It was mine. _I_ made the decision to put my hand through Amazo's head. It was no-one's fault but my own."

The Leaguers, solemn, exchanged glances with each other. Batman stayed silent for a moment. "Be that as it may..." He began. "The loss of Wally's hand will cause difficulties for your team. Wally's mother will almost certainly want you to be pulled from the team."

"What?!" Wally burst out. "No way! No way in _hell_ am I quitting the team."

"Wally, I understand." Batman said. "But considering the dangers to this team that we hadn't considered are now more apparent... The team may be split up indefinitely."

"WHAT?!" Came the chorus of angry and surprised voices. I remained silent, too shocked to speak.

Batman held up a single hand, silencing us. "The decision has not yet been made. For now, a League member will accompany you on all missions, ready to intervene should it be deemed necessary."

"More _babysitting?!"_ Robin yelled, furious. "As if you weren't keeping a close enough watch as is!"

"Clearly, we were not." Batman said, staring him down. "Everyone, turn in. You've had a bad night. Sleep it off, and the situation will be discussed further in the morning."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I lay in bed, eyes wide open, and tried to drift off. Ever since I'd gotten my powers, I'd had to force myself to sleep – I didn't ever feel tired or fatigued. I'd generally stay up late watching television, or surfing the internet, until late at night, turn in, then wake up a couple of hours later. Tonight, I didn't want to stay up – but I couldn't force myself into restlessness. I'd been careless and _stupid_ on the mission – I hadn't taken my opponent seriously, hadn't gone straight for the real threat – Ivo.

If I hadn't gotten distracted by Amazo I could've used Ivo as a hostage, forced him to shut down the Android before it could hurt anyone else. Wally had lost his hand, and now it might turn out that Superboy's ears were permanently damaged. We were told it was going to be close on whether he fully recovered.

The League were trying to get a hold of a magic user, someone who could restore Wally's hand. Giovanni Zatara was off doing a show, but Wonder Woman was apparently contacting Doctor Fate, trying to see if he'd be willing to help. I hoped so.

It seemed like everything was just getting worse. I hadn't helped – if anything, I'd hindered. I hadn't done anything close to improving the world. So I had to stop taking things like they were from some Saturday morning cartoon. There were villains who wouldn't think _twice_ about killing us, who would ruthlessly take advantage of anything they could – including the unspoken code of the hero not to kill.

I couldn't let them keep that advantage. I needed to show the world that Comet wasn't afraid to hurt you, if you hurt his friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 _Oh, Alex. You're finally taking godhood seriously. And all it took was crippling your friend and permanently damaging a teammate. Tut, tut, tut._

 _Your arrogance has brought you low, but your resolve will force you to ascend once more. I granted you this gift, so use it well. You should know that there are more worlds waiting for you, and if you don't hurry up and improve this one – well, who knows what might happen._

 _Still, if you really want power, there's not much I can do. Your strength is limitless, your body invulnerable. In fact, the thing that's holding you back is your mind – probably because of those pesky memory blocks you put up to protect yourself. Well, consider those gone. I restore your full knowledge of this world, and urge you to go out into the world and make it a better place._

 _Or else._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I woke up, I remembered everything. This world... The Young Justice Universe... Was peaceful, in comparison to some. But my presence hear had already made things worse – Wally had lost his hand, but I'd already resolved to make things better. And I would. Doctor Fate could fix Wally's hand, and Superboy... If his ears didn't heal, Doctor Fate could fix him too.

Convincing Wally's parents to stay on the team would take some doing, but... Maybe if Miss Martian paid them a visit, made them a little more suggestible, Wally could convince them. After all, there was no better place for him to train and get better than with the team, right? If not... Maybe we could sneak Wally out with us, or maybe he would just _happen_ to stumble across the mission, and he couldn't _not_ help, could he?

Wally and Artemis had met, and she'd saved his life – hopefully that would dissolve some of the tension between them. What else, what else, what else...

Dammit, it had been so long since I watched Young Justice I can barely remember the missions we went on. And my memories were too mixed up to divorce them – I couldn't remember whether it was in-universe knowledge or stuff I'd picked up from experience...

I sighed. My head was too mixed up right now to focus on this. I checked the clock – still early morning. Like three a.m. early morning. I flopped back down into bed and closed my eyes. When I woke up, it was time for serious business.


	5. Chapter 5

**Ἀπόλλων**

Wally was silent as the golden light played over his hand, and flesh began stretch and emerge from the stump of his left arm. He hissed once in pain as skin was pulled tight, before it filled out again to cover his hand, restoring it to a normal, if very pink, hand.

"It'll be sensitive for a few days," Dr. Fate – Kent Nelson, as he'd asked us to call him – said, "but it's good as new. You'll be fine, Wally my boy."

"Thank you, Mr. Nelson." Wally grinned, and was that a hint of tears in the corner of his eyes. "I don't know how to thank you enough-"

"Don't worry about it, kiddo." Mr. Nelson smiled. "It's my pleasure to help heal a young hero back to full health."

Wally returned his smile, and for a moment they were silent, before Mr. Nelson turned to face the team. "Right! Well, I've enjoyed seeing the next generation of superheroes, and knowing that the world is in good hands, but I really must be off." He smiled and nodded to us, leaning somewhat on his cane.

"It was good to meet you as well, Mr. Nelson." Aquald said, reaching forward to shake his hand. "And thank you for healing our friend as well."

"Like I said, don't worry about it!" He laughed it off, shook hands with the rest of us, then said his goodbyes and left. The zeta tube seemed to recognise him, for whatever reason, so he was gone pretty quickly.

"Right, are we gonna get this beach party started or _what_?!" Wally cried, hands going into the air.

"I thought you had school today..." M'gann said, sounding confused, before continuing in an admonishing tone, "are you skipping?"

Wally shook his head. "M'gann, I didn't have a _hand_. And you wanted me to go to school? When I'd come back the next day _with_ one?" He laughed. "You still have much to learn, young Martian." He continued in a mockingly solemn voice.

"It's good to have you back, Wally." Robin grinned and high-fived him, before turning to face all of us. "Now you heard the man – to the beach!"

Well, so much for serious business.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The beach day turned out to be... Really, really fun. Turns out I could accelerate through the water like nobody's business, something I took great advantage of, faking out Wally by grabbing his ankle while he was swimming.

That yelp was worth it.

We played volleyball at some point, with three players on each side. But with mine and M'gann's flight, and mine and Superboy's strength, it quickly became unfair. Of course, the game eventually ended up as everyone against Wally, since he had no qualms about using his celerity to always be where the ball was going.

We made sandcastles, something I'd thought was a little childish, but we buried Superboy underneath a _huge_ mound of sand – he was able to get out of it with ease when he woke up, but M'gann had great fun using telekinesis to mold an extremely detailed castle into the pile.

It also turned out that I wouldn't burn in sunlight. Or tan. I was to be perpetually slightly-too-pale. It made sense, I guess. X-Rays couldn't get through my skin, and light was just another form of radiation – it wouldn't be able to affect me either. It was still a little disappointing, though.

"Oh!" M'gann's sudden cry broke me out of my reverie. "I nearly forgot, I baked cakes!"

"Ooh!" Wally shot immediately to his feet. "Cake!"

Ah, Wally. Never change.

We migrated back into the main area of Mount Justice before M'gann lead us into the kitchen. The oven is on and beeping, and for a moment I'm worried she burnt them – but then she pulls two cakes out of there with her telekinesis, both apparently done to perfection. At the other's appreciative looks, she blushes.

"I studied up after the last time..." She smiles demurely.

"Uh, last time?" I ask inquisitively, as M'gann lifts out five plates and accompanying cutlery.

"M'gann's first attempt at baking lead to her burning some cookies." Kaldur explained briefly, and I nodded.

"They were still delicious though." Wally grins, rubbing his hands together eagerly. "So M'gann, I'm just worried that there might not be enough for _everyone_ -"

"That cake's for you Wally, don't worry." She giggles as Wally thanks her profusely and cuts out a slice for himself. "We'll eat the other one."

We cut into the cake and divvied out the slices before retiring to the main living area with the couches and the television. We sat down and flicked on the TV for some background noise, before Wally and Robin began swapping some of their superhero stories. Even Kaldur contributed some of his adventures in the Atlantean military – which were a little dry, Kaldur wasn't the best storyteller – and eventually they related the story of Superboy's escape back to me and M'gann. Superboy looked uncomfortable, so M'gann told the story of how she'd stowed away on her uncle's ship to make it back to other – even using shapeshifting to imitate his shocked expression.

It was good fun. Wally nearly brought up the story of how I fought Metallo, but I subtly shook my head at him. I wasn't quite... Ready to tell that tale. Robin undoubtedly already knew, although whether Batman told him or figured it out himself I was unsure.

Things came to a stop when we heard the zeta tubes whirring to life, and dimly heard it's monotone voice reporting the arrival of Red Tornado, Batman, and Green Arrow... As well as someone else who I didn't recognise.

We all got to our feet, and made our way to the training area and main hall. Wally panicked briefly as he was still in swimwear, but a quick burst of his superspeed and he was gone, before reappearing as we reached the main area in casual clothes.

Batman, Red Tornado, and Green Arrow were all standing around with some girl in a green costume. The rest of us were in casual clothes, which I thought didn't give a great impression to this new girl – _Artemis_ , I remembered. _She joined relatively early on, didn't she_?

"Artemis?" Wally asked, sounding confused. Looks like I wasn't the only one who recognised her. "What are you doing here?" _Wally, your powers of observation are abysmal_ , I thought to myself sardonically.

"She's going to join your team." Batman said, as she stepped forward. "After she saved your life, Wally, we approached her outside of costume and asked if she'd like a position in your group, and she accepted."

"That's great!" Wally cried enthusiastically. It seemed that having his life saved by her had endeared him to her somewhat.

"She's my niece, so I expect you lot to treat her right." Green Arrow said, laying a hand on her shoulder and examining each of us in turn. "Got it?"

"She will be treated respectfully as your niece, sir." Kaldur said, stepping forward to shake her hand. Green Arrow nodded somewhat awkwardly.

 _That's not true, right?_ I thought to myself. _They lied about her or something... Was she like his illegitimate daughter?_ God, I was getting mixed up between my poor memory and other people's writings, never mind the actual _show_. I suppose it didn't really matter right now, given that I wasn't 'supposed' to know. She'd tell us in time.

"So what is your real name, Artemis?" Aqualad asked once the formalities of the induction were over. Batman and Green Arrow were sticking around, as was Red Tornado – but then he was the supervisor of our little group, so that was to be expected.

"Actually, it's Artemis as well." She admitted, smiling wryly. That got a chuckle out of Wally, even as Aqualad turned to introduce the rest of us.

"Well, this is Miss Martian, Robin, Comet, and Superboy. You've already met Kid Flash, and I'm Aqualad," he smiled at her. "But just call me Kaldur."

The rest of us told her our first names – except Robin, who admitted he was under orders from Batman, and Superboy, who curtly informed her he didn't need a name.

"Hey, uh, Wally," Artemis began, eyes narrowing as she turned to look at him. "I was told you were missing a hand. Was that a metaphor, or...?"

"Nah," he grinned, hands going behind is head, in a sort of 'aren't I so great' stance. "I just heal that fast."

Robin elbowed him, and at his yelp of pain, shook his head. "Doctor Fate dropped by early, used his magic to fix Wally's hand."

"Well, he _claims_ magic." Wally rolled his eyes. "But _I_ reckon he's using some kind of-"

He was interrupted by the zeta tube whirring to life. "Recognised. Speedy. B. Zero. Seven."

The reactions were instantaneous. "Speedy?" Exclaimed Robin, Kaldur, and Wally all at once. The man clad in a much more functional red costume than I'd seen in pictures emerged.

"Not any more." He told them shortly. "I'm going by Red Arrow now."

I raised an eyebrow. Not exactly original. And if he wanted to break away from his old mentor, he wasn't doing a great job of showing it. When Green Arrow stepped forward to talk to his old sidekick, 'Red Arrow' let us know exactly what he thought about his replacement. Watching Wally see his old friend insult his saviour clearly wasn't comfortable, but he didn't step in. When Roy made a move to leave, Kaldur stopped him, asking why he had came.

After the long-winded exposition from Robin and Red Arrow, Batman and Green Arrow turned to the team.

"Well, Red Arrow brought this to you." Green Arrow said. "This is your mission now." He paused, turning to look at Batman. "The League member we had intended to accompany you for this mission is a little... High profile, so we're contacting Martian Manhunter and asking him to keep an eye on you while he conducts other business in Happy Harbour."

We all nodded, before disappearing off to suit up. As we left, Green Arrow laid a hand on Wally's shoulder. Wally half-turned to face him, and the next moment the five of us – not including Wally and Artemis – turned a corner to the dorms. Still, even we heard Wally's furious exclamation of, "you can't take me off of active duty!"

Dammit. We were down to six – which, admittedly, was accurate to the original show, but I didn't like it. Especially since we now didn't have anyone with celerity.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone returned to the main area of Mount Justice suited up, except Wally. My costume had been recently delivered to my room – by who, I had no idea. When asked about what I had wanted, I hadn't given any particular preferences regarding costumes, but I didn't particularly hate it.

Whoever designed it had gone with a grey/black colour theme, with sleeves cut off at the shulders despite my trousers ending in boots. No facial covering, but I didn't mind – I preferred my hair free when I was in flight, because that was a pretty amazing feeling.

It seems that my heroic pseudonym had become the theme of the costume – there were grey streaks emerging from a chest emblem that decorated the whole suit, with emblem displaying a shooting star. The rest of the costume was black, and I had dark wrist-guards on for any utilities that were built in for function – like Robin's holographic map.

When returned to the main area, Wally was nowhere to be seen. M'gann voiced the question all of us were wondering about - "didn't Wally want to see us off?" She asked, looking over to Red Tornado. It seems that the other heroes had left as well.

"It seems that he got a call from his mother, requesting that he return home immediately." Red Tornado remarked in that computerised voice of his. "He left via the zeta tubes to return to Central City."

We all nodded, somewhat disappointed. Still, we had to get going – Doctor Roquette was still in the high school, and who knows how many people were after her. The League of Shadows was a pretty damn big organisation.

We left Mount Justice and quickly and discreetly made our way to the local high school in Miss Martian's bio-ship in camouflage mode. We landed on the roof and entered via the back entrance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once we had arrived, scared Doctor Roquette and established that we were here to help her, Aqualad had asked Miss Martian to link us all up to her telepathic network, so that the League of Shadows couldn't intercept our comms. It was... weird, hearing other people's voices in your head, but I was able to get used to it quickly enough.

Once linked up, Aqualad quickly assigned everyone their roles. Superboy and Miss Martian were to patrol the perimeter, while he, Robin, Artemis, and I would guard the good doctor.

Superboy and Miss Martian were good choices for lookouts. Superboy's enhanced senses wold let him see or hear anyone coming a mile off, and if any new minds approached Miss Martian would be able to quickly identify them. Miss Martian was also one off the two people on the team with an efficient long-range option – her telekinesis. Plus, she could probably stop someone if they did get that close using her telepathy.

I looked up to notice Aqualad, Robin, and Artemis looking at me oddly. _What?_ I thought. _…_ _Did I think that out loud?_

 _Indeed,_ Aqualad communicated, sounding amused. _Excellent observations, Comet. A lot of the reasons I chose them for lookouts._

 _Um, actually..._ Miss Martian thought at us hesitantly. _I'm not too great at the combat side of telepathy. Plus, it doesn't feel right,_ controlling _someone like that._

 _Don't worry, Miss Martian._ Aqualad responded. _As long as you notify us of any hostiles, there won't be any need for you to use mind control._

 _Hey, I appreciate the fact that you're all good buddies and you can defend yourselves_ , Doctor Roquette transmitted, _but some of us are trying to actually_ work _here. Think you can let me concentrate?_

We all paused, waiting for Wally to make a sarcastic comeback, but it didn't come. The wait just dissolved into the silence that Serling had requested. Eventually, however, Aqualad 'spoke' up.

 _The virus won't be much use if we cannot find the weapon._ He thought. _Can you track it?_

 _My, Utility Fog, is not a weapon!_ Roquette responded, quietly furious. _It's science._ Brilliant _science._

 _That is_ currently _being used as a weapon._ I thought to myself. I heard a stifled giggle from Miss Martian over the telepathic link. Roquette glared at me, before returning to her conversation with Aqualad.

 _Of course I can track it._ She told him. _But I'd have to go online! Might as well rent a billboard with this address and 'Assassinate Me' written in neon._

Aqualad laid a hand on her shoulder. _We will protect you. In fact, another member of the Justice League is nearby, and we are all accomplished in combat situations._

I assumed he was ignoring the fact that we didn't actually _know_ whether Artemis could use her weapon, but I didn't speak up. Better for Roquette to feel reassured. Serling sighed, tapped a few buttons on the keyboard, and sat back.

 _Tracking the fog now._ She informed us.

I hoped we weren't making a mistake.

Aqualad, Robin, Artemis and Roquette were glaring at me.

 _Uh... Did I think that out loud?_


	6. Chapter 6

**Xangô**

 _Miss Martian._ Aqualad's voice transmitted over the neural link. _Doctor Roquette has located the Fog. Reconfigure the bio-ship so that Robin and Superboy can pursue. Artemis, join Miss Martian on lookout duty._

They both sent affirmation over the link, and the bio ship emerged from its hiding place on the roof, landing and opening a hatch. Robin and Superboy both entered the ship, leaving me and Aqualad in direct defence of Doctor Roquette. The bio ship took off, following the directions they'd been given by Roquette.

I left the room, patrolling around the room to see if there were any invaders in the school. From the barest scraps I could remember from the show – and here I was extremely careful not to let anything slip out of my mind – there were some people who attacked the school building. Of course, that didn't really help, given that we were already expecting an attack.

I did, however, see the barest hint of a shadowy form in the gloom, backing away, and presumably trying to lure me away from Roquette and Aqualad. Well, I wasn't going to fall for it – I returned to the computer room and took up a position near the entrance.

 _Aqualad_ , I transmitted. _I believe there may be intruders in the building. I've been seeing some movement in the shadows. It could be nothing, but we should remain cautious._

Aqualad nodded, and I could almost _feel_ how Roquette tensed up. She continued working though, and I had to commend her for her fortitude. I kept an eye on the entrance, however, as Aqualad took up a protective stance directly behind Roquette. There were several tense seconds of waiting, however, before something whistled through the air to slam into my shoulder, only to bounce off like it had hit something metal.

I spun around to see a young woman in a green costume and grinning mask had dropped down from an air vent above. Aqualad tore a small shuriken out of his shoulder and dropped it to the ground.

"Oh, poo." The grinning girl said dejectedly. "And here I was hoping to get this over quickly."

"Atlantean skin is quite dense." Aqualad replied, drawing his Water Bearers. "And Comet here is quite strong."

I narrowed my eyes – the grinning girl didn't seem too put out, or even to be taking this seriously at all. "Well, my shuriken are quite poisonous. That's one of you out of the running."

I noticed that Roquette had paused in her typing to watch the battle in horror. "Doctor," I said, keeping my eyes on the grinning girl. "Don't stop working – we'll hold off the grinning weirdo."

"Grinning weirdo?" The girl gasped. "How could you? The name is _Cheshire_."

With that, _Cheshire_ spun into an attack, drawing two sais and engaging with Aqualad in weaponry combat. I moved closer to Roquette, so that I could protect her should it be necessary. I hung back – I had no doubt that Cheshire was more experienced in combat than either of us, and if I tried to interfere she could use the ensuing confusion to kill Doctor Roquette.

This was an escort mission – where we had to fight off the bad guys whilst still protecting our company. I hated escort missions.

 _M'gann, Artemis!_ I transmitted to them. _We're being attacked in the computer room!#_

 _On our way!_ They replied simultaneously.

Aqualad and Cheshire remained locked in battle, with Aqualad's water machetes managing to block a series of punishing blows from Cheshire's sais. In response, he slammed his foot into her torso and sent her flying back. She flipped over gracefully in mid-air and sent another sais flying past Aqualad and towards Roquette. I smacked it out of the air with the back of my hand.

"Aw," Cheshire moaned, sounding annoyed. "It's no fun fighting people who I can't hurt."

At that, M'gann and Artemis charged in, surrounding Cheshire totally with reinforcements. She paused, turning slightly and we all saw that she was realising she was outnumbered.

"Well, it seems as though this is going to get significantly less fun. I think I'll just-" Cheshire said, her stance lowering as her hand crept around into a pocket behind her.

 _Oh, hell no._ I thought, shooting forward in the air and grabbing her arm – a little too hard, perhaps, as something crunched and Cheshire let out a grunt, sinking to her knees. I carefully repositioned my grip, taking firm hold of her.

 _Anyone got any rope?_ I asked mentally, ignoring the slight shock everyone except Artemis seemed to be broadcasting. _Or something more secure, maybe?_

 _I have some rope,_ Artemis replied, taking it out and reaching around to tie her hands behind her back, her legs together, and sitting her down in the corner.

 _Comet,_ Miss Martian started, hesitantly. _You... You broke her arm..._

 _Well..._ I replied, turning to M'gann. _She was trying to kill Doctor Roquette, and she stabbed and poisoned Aqualad._ Miss Martian remained hesitant. _M'gann, we're heroes now. Admittedly, we're a covert team, but we're still going to get into fights. Our opponents won't have any qualms about hurting or killing us, so we have to be prepared to take the steps necessary to stop them. A broken arm is pretty small in the grand scheme of things, and it prevented Cheshire from doing any more harm._

Aqualad stepped forward, placing a hand on my shoulder. _Comet is right. We will be facing danger constantly in our line of work, and we must be prepared to respond to it as severely as necessary._

M'gann nodded, but I could tell she still didn't like it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We moved Roquette to another part of the school, after hearing from Robin and Superboy that Star Labs had been attacked. Roquette was nearly finished with the virus needed to destroy the Fog, so we just had to keep protecting her. I had no doubt that the League of Shadows would be sending reinforcements to find out what happened to their first operative.

We were all a little on edge, and M'gann was disguising herself as Roquette in case more operatives showed up. The real Roquette was in a closed internet cafe with Aqualad, where the League of Shadows hopefully wouldn't think to look. The operatives still thought she was in the school, so they wouldn't bother with tracking her.

Me and Artemis were 'guarding' Miss Martian disguised as Roquette, and Cheshire was tied up and knocked out in the corner where – hopefully – she wouldn't be able to escape. We hadn't yet removed her mask, but we had placed a sack over her head to stop it from doing anything – if, indeed, her mask could do something.

Waiting was tense, despite being somewhat anticlimactic. Still, Artemis, M'gann, and I could talk while we waited, and we discussed the possible results of the mission, whether Martian Manhunter would interfere, and more.

 _I do have one question, Artemis_ , I began. _Why is your costume so... tiny?_

 _What, you mean, 'why am I showing my stomach?'_ She responded, smirking. At my nod, she continued. _My costume isn't very... protective, in the first place. It'll stop a knife half the time, but in close combat I'm usually better than my opponent. It won't stop a bullet at all, so whether I cover it or not doesn't make a difference. The freedom of movement that not covering my stomach gives me is more useful._

 _Why not just get more protective costume then?_ M'gann asked, as she 'worked.' I looked over to see that she was just randomly typing words into a text document.

 _Well, I-_ Artemis replied, only to be cut off as a jet of red webbing slammed into M'gann, sending her crashing to the ground.

Me and Artemis spun around, with Artemis raising her bow to aim an arrow at... A man in a spider costume.

Spiderman was Marvel, not DC, so this was... Black Spider? I think? Artemis loosed an arrow at him, and he front-flipped down into the room from his perch at the window to avoid it. I lifted off into the sky, preparing to attack, but a crash from behind me lead to me turning just quick enough to get a metal hook to the face. I wasn't prepared, so it sent me spinning, but it didn't hurt, so I righted myself quickly.

I was faced with a white haired man in a green jacket, with a hook for a hand. He grunted at me and reeled his hook in, falling into a stance that I assumed would suit his 'hook' style. Actually, wasn't this guys name just 'Hook?'

Unimaginative.

I swooped forward, dodging to the side to avoid the flying hook and grabbing the chain as it flew past. Hook smirked and tried to reel it back in – I felt a definite tug, but I remained unmoved in the air. That was a strong reel on that hook. I suppose it would have to be, in order to counter such a simple tactic.

There was a crash from behind me, and I spun around to see _another_ attacker – a huge, bald, muscled man in a green sleeveless shirt. I jerked in surprise – I did not remember him at _all_. Another member of the League of Shadows I assumed, but otherwise I didn't recognise him. I turned my attention back to my foe, only to see him fly into me, having abused the reel on his chain to launch himself at me.

I grunted in surprise – it didn't hurt, but I remained in the air and grabbed a hold of his shoulders. I could hear that Miss Martian had abandoned the ruse and was now hurling objects at the muscled man, who was able to just about dodge the various objects. He was drawing closer to Artemis as he was doing so, however, who was distracted by her fight with Black Spider.

Hook managed to manoeuvre his hook around my neck, jerking it from side to side in attempt to either break my grip or my neck. I wasn't sure. It didn't particularly hurt.

I flipped him upside down and seized arms before spinning in mid-air and hurling him into a wall. He grunted at the impact, leaving a definite impression, and I spun round in time to see the man in the green... Tank top? The man in the green tank top seize Artemis in a half-nelson, allowing Black Spider to land half a dozen blows into her midriff. She grunted at each one, before throwing her legs up and wrapping them around Black Spider's neck, trying to choke him out. He scrabbled at her legs, but didn't let out a sound.

I checked to make sure, and it looked like Hook was still out. Cheshire was beginning to wake up, but she was securely tied up – I didn't trust that it would hold her forever, but it wouldn't take long to deal with these guys. I flew up behind Green Tank Top and jabbed him in the right armpit. He grunted, half turning, and Artemis twisted out of his grip, tightening her hold on Black Spider, and sending them both crashing to the ground.

Tank Top turned to face me, assuming what looked like a wrestling stance. I hovered at the ready as well, preparing myself for an attack – only for M'gann to drop a desk on him, sending him to the floor. It rose and dropped twice more before Tank Top fell unconscious. Artemis stood up as well, having choked Black Spider into unconsciousness. I had thought that asphyxiating someone would cause brain damage, but I guess Artemis would know more about that than me.

 _Right._ I thought. _That wasn't too hard._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We tied the three League of Shadows members up and put them in different corners of the room, before spraying them with Black Spider's webbing to keep them in place. After contacting Artemis, we learned that Roquette had finished the virus and Robin and Superboy had stopped the Fog before it could destroy the WayneTech building. Superboy had apparently also captured some guy with a laser eye device called 'Ojo.' I didn't recognise the name, but then I also hadn't recognised the man in the green tank top – a League of Shadows operative by the name of Ubu. He and Robin had met before, apparently.

We returned to Mount Justice victorious – we had stopped the Fog, saved Doctor Roquette and captured _five_ League of Shadows members. Not even Batman could fault us for that.

We were debriefed by Batman back at the base, and Martian Manhunter returned halfway through to deliver his own report.

"In my opinion," he said in his measured, careful tone after reporting back to Batman. "The team operated nigh-impeccably, and succeeded almost totally in their efforts."

"Thank you, Manhunter." Batman replied, and the Martian left via the zeta tube. He turned to us. "Excellent work, team. You captured five members of the League of Shadows and stopped the Fog before it could destroy the WayneTech building."

After some more conversation and explanation of what would happen to the captured operatives – Cheshire was being transferred to Belle Reve, but they were being split up so that they couldn't collaborate – Batman took his leave, and the team retired to the main area.

We stayed up a little longer, despite it being past midnight already, and talked some more. Superboy was warming up to everyone as a whole, and I felt a lot more... Included in the conversation, even though I didn't say much. Wally hadn't returned though, and we all expressed our annoyance with the League that they couldn't get him back on the team. The conversation eventually wound down, and I returned to my room to change into civvies, before transferring back to Metropolis via zeta tube. It was a long day, but I was able to lie down with a smile on my face.

Things had gone very well.


	7. Chapter 7

**Ἑστία**

Cheshire was still being held in the Mountain for now. The League didn't really have appropriate holding facilities yet, and we'd already taken her down once – and there was still a week until the prisoner transfer van arrived. As such, there had to be a watch on her at all times. These past few days it had been M'gann and Wally – he'd been provisionally allowed to keep watch, since there wasn't any danger.

Given the track record of DC villains for escaping from imprisonment, I didn't buy it. It was my turn tomorrow, and I wouldn't be slacking in my duties. Speaking of slacking in duties... Artemis had been acting oddly lately. She seemed to be spending less and less time with the team, more just practising her... bowmanship? With her bow anyway.

I had suspicions that it was something to do with an event in the show, but for the life of me I couldn't remember what. Let's see, what do I know about Artemis? Archer, lives in Gotham, part of the team, and- wait, her dad was in the League of Shadows or something, right? Wait, wasn't he _Sportsmaster?_ In fact, wasn't her sister also in the League of Shadows?

Holy shit, her sister was Cheshire! No wonder she was acting weird. She was probably worried about Cheshire revealing their connection. I frowned to myself. Actually, that was a pretty good point. In this period, I'm pretty sure most of the team wouldn't be happy if they heard that their teammate was related to a notorious villain – and hid it from them. Even if Batman himself told them that he knew, would they trust her again?

Man. Heavy stuff.

I checked my watch – it was nearly my shift for keeping watch on Cheshire. I headed towards the surveillance room, where Robin was sitting back, in casual clothes, eyes on the few screens that showed Cheshire's cell.

"Hey." I said, holding a hand up.

Robin turned his head minutely, to keep the surveillance screens in view, and see me in the corner of his eye. "Hey. My shift over?"

"Yup. Here to relieve you of your duties." I mock-saluted, and he smirked. He stood up and handed me the keys to the room. We all knew the door code, but the keys were for added security.

I took a seat in the spinny chair and gave it an experimental spin. "See you in twelve hours, Alex."

"See ya." I replied, settling in, and sitting down to watch the screens. Robin flapped a hand over his shoulder in parting, already messing around with something on his phone.

I fidgeted a little, trying to get comfy in the seat, then crossed my arms, and set my eyes on the screens.

…

Wow, this was gonna be a long night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was lucky that I didn't actually need to sleep, or I probably would have been snoozing away from how boring the whole thing was. As it was, I drifted into an almost half-sleep, where I wasn't exactly awake, but I _was_ able to react to movement on any of the screens. I was multi-tasking.

Then I heard a code being tapped in outside, and froze. Everyone else was supposed to be asleep. Then I heard the sound of the lock being picked. So they knew the code, but didn't have the key? Of course, I had the key. So-?

I pretended to sleep as the tumblers locked into place and the door swung open on silent hinges. I heard _very_ faint footsteps – Robin? Miss Martian would float if she was trying to be sneaky, and Artemis was the only other one with the stealth skills.

Wait, was she...? I cracked an eye open, and saw Artemis – in civvies, wearing darker clothes than the ones I usually saw her in. She plugged a small USB Drive into the computer, and the surveillance screens blinked, before returning to the normal screen. Then she glanced quickly at me – I barely had an eye cracked, so she didn't see my alertness – took the USB stick out and left..

I counted to fifteen, then sat up in my chair. This was... This was pretty big.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I followed Artemis along at least semi-silently. I was hovering above the ground as I moved so that she wouldn't hear footsteps, but I couldn't actually see her so I didn't know if she knew I was following her or not. Mainly I was just banking on the fact that she was going to release her sister.

As we approached the holding cell, I floated just far enough round the corner that I could see Artemis tap in the security code. We had been given it in case there was an emergency that required we get the prisoners out, or we needed a relatively secure place to stay.

The door slid open with an almost inaudible hiss, and Artemis walked into the holding cell. I lowered closer to the ground and flew silently to the side of the door, listening intently.

"Dear sister, you actually did it!" Cheshire chuckled. "I almost that you had bailed on me." Her voice was nauseatingly sweet, and she was practically purring.

"If I had done that you'd have told the others." Artemis said irritably and impatiently. "Now lets just get out of here so that I can put this whole thing behind me."

I could practically hear Cheshire cocking an eyebrow. "So eager to get rid of me? You wound me, sis." Artemis seethed silently. "What will you tell your cute little friends?"

"What does it matter to-" Artemis began, but I cut her off.

"No one's going anywhere." I said, and flew in, pressing the pad as I entered to shut the door behind me. Artemis and Cheshire froze.

Jesus, that was fucking cliché.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Uh, Al- Comet? I was just, um," Artemis began, but I held up a hand to stop her, my eyes staying unwaveringly on her sister.

"I know exactly what you were doing." I paused, almost cruelly. "And I don't blame you for it."

"You- you don't?" Artemis said, and Cheshire blinked in surprise, having already fallen into a combat stance. Not that it would do her much good.

"No, I don't." I floated closer. "Because you know what? Your sister is a manipulative, unrepentant, stone-cold bitch." _And I have no idea what Red Arrow saw in you- will see in you- whatever_ , I continued in my head. "So I blame her."

Cheshire smirked. "Well, if I had known that your friend-"

I darted forward, seizing her by the throat and lifting her up effortlessly. Well, the lifting her up part was effortless. The making sure she didn't choke to death part wasn't so much. "I'm sorry, Cheshire, but you don't get to talk. You're part of an organisation that wants to commit mass murder because _boo hoo_ , _environmental problems._ You don't get a fucking say." I tightened my grip ever so slightly.

Cheshire let out a gasping choke, and I eased up again. Artemis looked torn on whether she should intervene or not.

"You are going to stop mindfucking with your _own goddamn siblings_ , or you and I or gonna have problems." I dropped her to the floor, and she dropped to her knees, gasping for breath. "There are no cameras in this room right now, and I'm not one of those goody-fucking-two-shoes heroes who won't kill someone who rightly fucking deserves it." I straightened up. "You are nothing. And as long as you stick with the League of little bitches, you will _always_ be less than nothing." I turned and walked away, pressing my thumb against the fingerprint reader to open the door. Artemis followed silently.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We remained silent for several more moments. I wasn't sure whether Artemis was in shock from what I had just done or was trying to figure out what I was going to do about her.

"So, um, about that-" Artemis began. Looked like it was the latter.

"I'm not gonna tell the others." I said, interrupting her once more. "You made a dumb mistake, but that's what teenagers do. I won't hold it against you. And honestly? I don't care that your dad is Sportsmaster." She sucked in a breath, and I winced internally. Should not have revealed that I knew that. I forged ahead regardless. "And if you told the others,I don't think they would either. You're a part of the team, no matter what."

There was pause, and I wondered if maybe I had overdone it a little. I turned, looking back at Artemis, and she was looking down to the floor and rubbing her arms apprehensively. "I'll... I'll think about it." She glanced up, flashing me a weak smile. "Thanks, Alex."

I returned her smile warmly, then stretched out my arms. "Well, back to watching the surveillance cameras, I guess."

"Um, actually, the virus can't be ended now. It has to run its course, and its due to end when your shift ends." She winces. "Sorry?"

I shrugged and waved a hand nonchalantly. "Ah, don't be." I pondered for a moment. "Guess I'll just have to waste away my..." I checked my watch. "Next four hours doing something else. Go get some rest."

She nodded, and we parted ways.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I decided to take the rest of the night off with a fly over of Happy Harbour. I hadn't managed to get much recreational flight in since I had gotten my powers – it had kinda just been one thing after another, what with the team and the missions and all. But now that I did have time off that I wasn't going to spend at home...

I could pretty safely just fly.

It was exhilarating, in a way. Even knowing that I couldn't be harmed, and that I was above water anyway, when I turned off my flight and dropped towards the ground like an arrow, before letting my powers retake control and skimming across the surface of the water – well, it was no wonder flight was one of the most popular powers in my world.

For a time I just flew, taking the chance to breathe in the warm air, see the sights, and witness the world in all its beauty. I didn't take chances with flying too far – I didn't want to get lost – but I did fly around the Harbour and the neighbouring wildlife, cities, and people.

I took respite on a rooftop overlooking the water and smiled, content to just watch.

A shrill scream echoed out from an alleyway a little ways away, and I dropped off the building, taking to the air. A hero's work was never done, it seemed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Aqualad took over surveillance of Cheshire, and Wonder Woman was brought in to teach me and Superboy how to fight with super strength. As it turned out, I had a pretty apt name.

"With fliers, a lot of the time we use strafing tactics." She told me, even as we clashed in mid-air and I just about managed to smack her fist aside, preventing it from striking my midsection. "When you can manoeuvre your superstrength with your whole body, you become a weapon."

I elevated ten feet to dodge one of Diana's purposefully telegraphed moves. I knew she was holding back, given that no-one really knew how durable I was. So for now she gave me easy opportunities to dodge, easy victories to build up my confidence – before she upped the ante and crushed me again.

"But that's generally only useful against a single, slow-moving target, or many fragile ones." She continued, this time reversing her punch into a grapple to send me crashing to the ground. I just managed to twist and get my hands under me, turning my near-failure into a handspring. "Against a mobile opponent, where you need to get into close quarters, grappling is your most useful tactic."

I nodded, floating warily in front of her. She directed me to land, and we dropped to the ground, synchronised.

I approached her, wary of surprises, but she stuck her hand out, congratulating me on a good fight. I smiled and took it, shaking it once before she took hold of my forearm with her other hand and swung me overhead, sending me crashing into the ground.

"Comet: Fail." I heard the monotone voice of the simulation intone, and Miss Martian and Artemis erupted into giggles.

"Also, never assume your opponent is down unless you _know_ they are." Wonder Woman smiled down at me, then helped me to my feet.

"Also also, leverage." I cracked a smile in response, and this time we shook hands for real.

Superboy had already had a lesson on grappling, and she'd given some pointers on how to fight larger opponents when you weren't as mobile as I was. Her task finished, Diana walked over to the zeta tube, before pausing as it lit up.

Red Tornado emerged, the zeta tube's voice announcing him dryly. He and Diana greeted each other, before she left.

I glanced around. Wally wasn't here, but I was fairly sure there was another canonical mission coming up soon. I cleared my throat to ask Red Tornado about it.

"Um, Red Tornado, do you, uh, maybe have a mission for us?" I asked, trying to sound casual. He paused.

"Mission assignments are the Batman's job." He replied.

"Yeah, but, um, he and Robin are..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Batman silently reviewed the footage of the event in the holding cell. His own recording devices had been unaffected by Artemis' crude virus, but there wasn't listening software. Still, he was an experienced enough lip reader that he could follow what was going on with ease.

And he didn't like it.

"I don't know whether to be worried _for_ that boy or _about_ him." Diana sighed, her arms crossed as she sat beside him.

"He's had a... troubled past." Batman responded. "His mother was killed right in front of him, so he's taking it out on anyone that he can blame. Probably doesn't even realise." He paused. Then, almost to himself, continued, "I can sympathise."

Diana looked at him softly, placing an arm on his shoulder. Then she stood and walked away.

Batman clicked the mouse to the right of the computer, restarting the video. He watched it once more, before shutting down the League computers and taking a zeta tube back to Gotham.

He trusted the team as a whole to deal with their own issues. But he didn't know if he trusted some of the members of that team.


	8. Chapter 8

**Tenjin**

Red Tornado had taken over Kaldur's duties whilst we were finding Kent Nelson. We had begun the search for the Tower of Fate, although honestly I was just killing time until Aqualad realised that he just needed to randomly hold it out and turn it. Without Wally here, things were just too quiet. He was probably the most talkative of us.

Eventually, Aqualad called us back over. "A test of faith," he explained. "Stand behind me."

I hurriedly moved behind him. Would not want to be standing where the Tower could materialize around me. Maybe that would inviolate my durability? I didn't want to find out.

Aqualad held out the key, then turned it, with an air of finality. And the Tower was there. No real fanfare, or slow reveal. One moment not there, the next, there. There was a very slight fade effect, I thought, but I couldn't really tell. The door swung open creakily, and the team walked in. It swung closed behind us, and when I turned to look at it, I couldn't find the door.

"That's not good." I murmured. I returned my gaze to the foyer of the building in time to see a hologram materialise.

"Greetings," the golden, transparent glowing Kent Nelson said. "You have entered with a key, but the Tower does not recognize you. Please state your purpose and intent."

Didn't purpose and intent mean the same thing?

I knew that in canon, this was the point where Wally stepped forward and made a bit of an ass out of himself. Here, though, Aqualad stepped forward as the leader.

"We have come because Doctor Fate has disappeared. We wish to secure the Helmet of Fate to ensure that it doesn't fall into the wrong hands."

"I see." The hologram replied. "Mr. Nelson has been absent for longer than usual. I will allow you access to the Helmet.

He stepped slightly to one side, and a blank section of wall rumbled aside, revealing a staircase that disappeared into darkness. We approached the staircase and walked up the steps, and into the darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We passed through almost pitch-black darkness for a good minute before emerging into a field of snow. I turned again to see that we had emerged from a particularly dark patch of shadow, beneath an overhanging rock ledge. I blinked. Magic. Who knew, right?

Up ahead was Nelson's cane. I walked towards it and observed it, but I didn't take hold. Artemis and M'gann were closer, and Artemis grabbed it, proclaiming, "Got it!"

Then a pulse of light from the cane cocooned her body. "Wait, I can't let go!" Artemis yelled, and the cane began to rise.

"Artemis!" M'gann yelled, and Superboy leapt up to grab her. He caught hold of the end of the cane, just as another flash of golden light pulsed from the cane and both Artemis and Superboy disappeared.

"Well that's not good." I muttered.

I turned to look at Miss Martian and Aqualad. "So, uh, what now?" I asked. Aqualad stepped forward.

"We should keep moving." He said, eyes focussed forward. "There must be a way out of here-"

As he spoke, a patch of sky opened up above the snow, and a set of stairs unfolded. "Huh." I said. "That's convenient."

Miss Martian and Aqualad exchanged a look, but we continued on to the door in the air. We stepped through, and Aqualad dropped down onto a hard wooden floor as a different gravity field asserted itself. M'gann and I floated down, alighting gently on the floor.

"Friends of yours?" Nelson asked, raising an eyebrow. Superboy grunted, then grabbed Nelson and jumped aside as a blot of electricity shot past.

Abra Kadabra and Klarion the Witch Boy. God, I never realised how stupid the names of those guys were when you actually thought about it.

Nelson tapped his cane against an ornate bell, a loud gong echoing out from it – louder than it should have been, given how lightly he tapped it. A golden glow pulsed out from the bell, and Nelson and Superboy walked through. Klarion cursed, loudly, and flew over, passing through the bell in a flash of golden light.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Me, Miss Martian, Aqualad and Artemis turned to look at each other as Abra Kadabra raised his wand – and wow that looked really stupid – to fire more bolts of electricity at us.

Honestly, in canon I had no idea how he'd managed to beat the other five members of the team. They had a half-Kryptonian, for Pete's sake. Well, now they didn't, but they did have me. I didn't know if the bolts affected me less due to my durability, but-

Okay, yeah, that barely tickled. I shot forward, taking to the air and darting towards Kadabra at high speed. He rolled to the side and I shot past him, cursing. He rolled into position and took up a combat stance, his wand held steady and pointing at Miss Martian. Her eyes widened and she flung her arms out, sending him flying off his feet and rolling across the ground, landing at Aqualad's feet. He pushed him over onto his front and placed a foot on his chest, smiling comfortably at the ease of defeat.

Kadabra grinned through shining teeth and grabbed his ankle, sending electricity coursing through Aqualad's vulnerable physiology. He roared in pain and fell back, collapsing as electricity arced across his body. Kadabra got to his feet just as Artemis loosed a concussive arrow into his face, snapping his head to the side and knocking him down once again. I flew up and pressed him into the ground, pinning him.

Well, we disabled Kadabra easily enough, disarming him of his weapons and equipment quickly. I didn't want to destroy it – it was some pretty potent tech – but I'd rather it be damaged than in the hands of a criminal.

Now it was just a waiting game. Superboy would put on the Helmet of Fate, and presumably defeat Klarion by attacking his familiar, Teekl. Although it would be interesting to see how a half-Kryptonian would respond to the Helmet of Fate, and-

Wait, did that mean Kent Nelson was going to die? Holy shit, I hadn't even considered that. That wasn't good at all! Fuck, how to prevent-

A golden ankh appeared beneath our feet, and I nearly rose into the air reflexively. Instead, the setting shifted as we were suddenly teleported to the rooftop, by- Kent Nelson? What the fuck?

"Hello there, don't think we quite got introduced. I'm Kent Nelson, aka Doctor Fate."

"Wait..." M'gann began, then pointed. "If you're Doctor Fate, then who's that?"

I followed her finger to see Superboy, as Doctor Fate, firing blasts of red light from his eyes, intermingled with a golden glow, giving it an almost orange effect. But... How was that possible? Superboy was only half-Kryptonian, he'd never have access to Superman's full range of capabilities. Did Doctor Fate change his DNA somehow?

As I watched, I looked down to the side to see Teekl – Klarion's familiar – crouching, back arched as it observed the fight. Apparently, Kent Nelson noticed too.

"Ah, of course. The familiar. I should have known." Kent tapped the bottom of his cane on the floor of the Tower, and a golden blast shot out of the head and slammed into the cat, sending it flying through the air. It stumbled to its feet, that bizarre red effect disappearing from its eyes.

Doctor Fate's next orange eye-beam slammed Klarion into the Tower of Fate so hard that it drove a furrow into the ground and left Klarion panting for breath, far worse for wear. As we watched from the sidelines, not feeling any particular need to intervene – Superboy was dominating Klarion, the Witch Boy hadn't gotten a single shot in so far – the layered tones of Doctor Fate and Superboy spoke.

"Give up, brat." He said coldly. "Your power is no match for the strength of myself and this boy combined. His DNA and affinity for magic make him an ideal host for my power. Your familiar has been defeated, and you are struggling to keep your form on this world."

Klarion gritted his teeth. "Damn it, you old geezer!" He yelled nasally, his voice grating on my ears. "I'm out of here!" He disappeared through a dark red portal, one hand emerging from another portal in order to seize hold of Teekl.

We remained slightly as Doctor Fate touched down in front of us.

"Greetings, friends of Superboy." He said, the layered voices creating a bizarre, yet ominous voice. "My host wishes to inform you that he has decided to allow me to use his body as Doctor Fate on a... Temporary basis."

"What? No! Superboy, don't-" M'gann cried out, lurching forward, on hand stretched towards the helmet. Aqualad grabbed her shoulder, holding her back.

"Superboy... Why?" He asked, stepping forward slightly. "What purpose-"

"I have made a deal, of sorts, with Superboy." Doctor Fate continued. "I have begun the process of converting his human half into full Kryptonian. It will take some time. Up until that point, he has agreed to allow me control of his body."

"Wait," I said. "Superboy, think about this. You'll be giving up your normal life for more power. Don't you think-"

Suddenly, Doctor Fate raised his hands to remove the helmet. The uniform didn't disappear, but the layered voice effect did.

"It's fine. It's only a couple of weeks, and then I've agreed to find Doctor Fate another host." He looked down and to the side, his eyes lidded. "I can... Do more, like this. Help more people and – at the end of it – I'll be stronger."

He grinned. "Relax. Doctor Fate says that he'll only use my body sixteen hours a day. That'll still give me eight to do missions with you guys, and stuff."

I was... Surprised. This was very different from canon, and Superboy seemed a lot happier now than he had at this point in the show. Seems that knowing the issues with his strength – and knowing that they were being fixed – had really taken a weight off of his mind.

Although I dreaded what would happen when the Light found out about this. Because they would, and once they did, they'd be investing in magic like crazy. Hopefully only someone as strong as a Lord of Order would be able to pull turning someone into a Kryptonian.

The others seemed tense. So was I, though for different reasons, I was guessing. Finally, Aqualad spoke up.

"We can discuss this later. For now, we should return to the cave and report back to Red Tornado. And inform Batman of this... Event."

"Wait," Superboy said. "I think I can..." He put the Helmet back over his head, then held up one golden-gloved hand.

An ankh appeared below us, and before anyone could protest, we were standing in the largest room of Mount Justice. Before anyone could do anything, Doctor Fate was rising into the air.

"I will leave you now. A Lord of Order is needed." He inclined his head, and disappeared.

Again, silence rained. I could tell M'gann was holding back tears. Despite the victory, we weren't exactly feeling victorious.

The zeta tube glowed with light, and the computer announced the arrival of Red Tornado. WE turned in tandem to see the crimson android walk further into the cave.

"Team. You have returned." He paused. "And with Kent Nelson, I see."

"Red!" Nelson grinned. "Good to see you, old friend. Thank you for sending this team over to find me – I suspect things would have gone much worse had they not been there."

"It is good to see you too, Kent. I am glad you are okay." He surveyed the team, his heard turning ever so slightly to take us all in. "But where is Superboy?"

"This... may take some time, Red Tornado." Aqualad replied, glancing round at us. "And I believe Batman may want to be here as well."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We picked up Abra Kadabra on our way out of the Tower, and I slung him unconscious over my shoulder to take him through the zeta tube. He was put into a separate holding cell to be picked up alongside Cheshire when the transport vans arrived. But...

The debriefing had gone spectacularly badly. Robin had arrived with Batman, and the Dark Knight hadn't seemed too happy that there was a rogue magic Kryptonian – and didn't that send a shiver down your spine – out there, potentially doing more harm than good.

Still, he had accepted that it was the logical choice at the time, and that there really hadn't been all that much we could do. It didn't alleviate that hollow feeling that was slowly filling my stomach, as I realised that my presence may have just caused Superboy to be damned to an eternity of enslavement as Doctor Fate's host.

Go me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	9. Chapter 9

**Φόβος**

I panted, exhausted, as I faced off against the creature. 'Clayface,' I remembered, but it didn't exactly do much good. It had used that age-old tactic of divide and conquer, drawing the members of the group away and taking them out. It didn't help that we were so low on members- Superboy was off doing his Doctor Fate gig, and Wally was _still_ barred from doing missions with us. And now it was just me against Clayface.

The _thing_ had taken out Miss Martian first. Probably recognised her as the biggest threat – her telekinesis had the potential to tear this thing apart from the inside. Robin had been next, followed by Artemis. The two were good, but they were only baseline humans. And Robin wasn't quite on Batman's level.

Aqualad and I had joined together, having realised that it was picking us off one by one. We needed to catch and stop it _soon_ , or Clayface could get out into Gotham. And without Batman around? It would cause a hell of a lot of damage before the League got there.

We underestimated it. It could morph it's muddy constitution into any shape it wanted – it had been able to imitate the team members, so why not inanimate objects?

Aqualad and I had been taken by surprise, and before I knew it, Kaldur was down. I was alone, facing up against possibly my most mismatched fight to date. This thing couldn't be beaten with brute force – my punches did next to nothing, it flowed out of my grapples like water, and it could dodge out of the way of anything I threw at it.

Currently the best idea I'd had was to build up enough speed such that I could slam into Clayfce and scatter it thoroughly enough that it would be unable to reconstitute itself. But that would require me to build up quite a bit of distance so that I could gather speed, and who _knows_ what the monster would do to my teammates whilst I was gone.

I had to stall until someone woke up and we could devise a plan. As much as I hated to admit it... I wasn't the greatest at improvising.

The creature slammed a mace-like fist into my body, it's momentum flinging me backwards. I righted myself mid-air, and flew back towards it like my namesake. I hadn't picked up enough speed to do enough damage, and one stop mean that I glanced off of the left half of its body, splattering mud across the warehouse. It quickly pulled the material back towards its body, reforming and healing instantaneously.

I panted again. I didn't really feel tired, but my frustration at the futility of this fight was getting to me. I honestly had no idea what I was going to do. If I could just get a hold of him-

From above a crash sounded, and I darted back to see the Dark Knight himself drop down from above. He sent two batarangs directly into the creatures arm, blowing the limb off. I noticed that Clayface didn't even attempt to reconstitute himself – too much effort to gain back that much matter, perhaps? I didn't know, and I wasn't sure I honestly cared.

Even as he landed, Batman was moving again, attempting to dodge an overhead strike from the thing that had once been Matthew Hagen. It never came.

I slammed full force into the creatures upper arm, blowing that one away as well. _Well, 'e's 'armless now._ I chuckled to myself. Clayface fell to his knees, desperately trying to flood enough matter into his stumps to reform his arms. Batman withdrew a device from within his cloak.

 _Figures_ , I thought. _A techy solution. Lemme guess, you analysed some of that mud in the lab and found that a specific MacGuyver did the job?_

Two lines fired from the gun, sinking into the malleable chest of Clayface, before sending powerful jolts of electricity through the cables and leaving him a stinking puddle of mud.

 _Or it could just be your common, run of the mill electricity._ I thought sourly. _I mean I've been fighting this thing for damn near half an hour but no, no – a Taser would have done the trick._

I rolled my eyes, and got up to start helping the others. Batman was moving around and wafting what looked to be smelling salts under their noses, waking them up pretty quick. Robin was awoken first, and he sat up groaning and rubbing his head.

Once everyone was awake, Batman ordered us tersely to the nearest zeta tube. He wasn't happy, apparently.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So. Kaldur was taking a leave of absence, at least temporarily. That left me alone at the cave with M'gann – with Superboy still doing his daily duty as Doctor Fate, and Robin off at the Wayne household, or at least so I assumed, and Artemis off... Doing something? I actually had no idea what she was doing.

So it was just me and M'gann, one of the team members I'd had the least experience with.

"And now?" I asked, holding the sugar in my left hand and standing in front of a mixing bowl. M'gann and asked for help making a cake for the team, when they returned. We'd gotten off to a bit of a rocky start – M'gann wasn't great at coordinating – but she'd eventually realised she couldn't just fling objects at me with telekinesis and hope I'd know what to do with them.

"Now, we pour the cake mixture into the tin..." She said, reading from a recipe book of some kind. A rectangular tray floated up in front of me, and I poured the mix in until it filled the tray roughly evenly. "Then we put it in the oven and wait!"

M'gann smiled at me, and I grinned back. It had been... fun, kinda. Beat sitting at home and surfing the internet for- well, that wasn't really pertinent.

I opened my mouth to respond to M'gann, only to be interrupted by the cave computer.

"Recognised. Superman. Zero. One." The dull female voice spoke, and I blinked in surprise. Why in the _hell_ was Superman visiting the cave?

Me and M'gann walked out into the main area, where Superman was already standing waiting for us.

"Comet? Miss Martian?" Superman paused. "Where are the rest of the team?"

I exchanged a glance with M'gann. "Uh, Aqualad's taking a vacation in Atlantis, Robin's doing... _Something_ , I assume, with Batman, Artemis is taking some time off, Kid Flash is still banned from missions, and Superboy is off doing his duty as Doctor Fate."

I saw Superman visibly tense at that. "Right." He said, and sighed. "I guess that'll have to do."

I frowned slightly. I had nothing but the utmost respect for Superman, but... Seeing his treatment of Superboy, both on the show and now, in what I would tentatively call 'real life,' had left a sour taste in my mouth. That kind of neglect, from someone who was, essentially, your own flesh and blood?

"What did you need, Superman?" I asked respectfully, if a tad confrontationally.

"I was hoping to ask you some questions about Superboy's decision to don the Helmet of Fate." Superman replied, turning his full attention on us. It was a little intimidating, honestly – he had an imposing figure, a confident stance, and the power to back it up.

"Um, well-" M'gann began hesitantly. I cut in – she was obviously a little overwhelmed.

"It's all in the report, sir." I said. "We _are_ required to submit mission reports, y'know." I smiled slightly in an attempt to lighten the mood. Superman responded in kind, a quirk in the corner of his mouth denoting at least _some_ amusement.

"Why don't you just give me the short version." He asked, and I inclined my head.

"So, ah, Kent Nelson and Superboy were transported to the roof, where Mr. Nelson attempted to get the Helmet of Fate. However, Klarion the Witch Boy attacked them, forcing Superboy to fight. However Superboy couldn't both defend Mr. Nelson and attack Klarion – he was forced to put on the Helmet before Mr. Nelson was hurt." I paused, gauging Superman's reaction. He looked... Pensive. "When he put on the Helmet, Doctor Fate discovered that his bearer was half-Kryptonian, and notified Superboy of this."

"Wait, _half_ -Kryptonian?" Superman asked, frowning. "How does that even- never mind, please continue."

I nodded. M'gann shifted uneasily at my side. "Um, anyway, Doctor Fate then attacked and defeated Klarion, with Superboy's own Kryptonian genes allowing Doctor Fate to defeat Klarion soundly. When the fight was finished, Doctor Fate and Superboy negotiated a deal such that Fate would convert Superboy into a full Kryptonian, and Superboy would bear the Helmet. For now, at least."

Superman nodded, frowning more intensely now. "So Superboy was only half-Kryptonian." He massaged his temples. "In that case, where did the rest of his genetic make-up come from?"

I exchanged a glance with M'gann, and Superman cracked a smile. "Well, it's not your problem. But if Superboy really will have a full suite of Kryptonian abilities... I should probably pay him a visit."

My eyes widened. Holy shit, that had actually _worked?_ Superman, all on his own, had arrived at the conclusion that he should talk to Superboy sooner rather than later?

Well... That had been because he thought Superboy would be getting full Kryptonian abilities. I could see how an untrained youth with such power would worry him. Still, though. That had to count for improving the world, right?

Suddenly, the computer beeped, and a holographic screen opened in the air above us. A video feed opened up, displaying Batman's face. "Team, ready up. I'm sending you on an emergency mission. Robin is en route to the cave, and you two need to be prepared."

"Emergency mission, sir?" I asked. We _never_ got emergency missions. There was always thorough research done on the situations and conditions we would be encountering. If the mission was too urgent, a League member would handle it.

"It's Kid Flash." He paused. "He's run away."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Me and M'gann rushed to our rooms and got into field gear. By the team we returned to the main room of the cave, Robin had arrived and Superman had left. Batman was still present on the video feed, although I couldn't discern his surroundings.

He began without preamble once we arrived. "Earlier today, Kid Flash's mother entered his room to find out why he hadn't been responding. She found that a number of his clothes and his stash of food were missing – along with his mission suit. She also found a note. Display on-screen." He uttered the last part to his computer, and a piece of paper appeared on the display. I quickly ran through the message.

 _Dear Mom and Dad,_

 _I'm sorry I have to do this, but I can't take it any more._

 _I want to use my powers to help people, and I can't do_

 _that cooped up in here for the rest of my life. And even_

 _if Uncle Barry won't help me, I can still do this. I'm_

 _leaving home and helping people my own way, without_

 _the League breathing down my neck. Please don't try_

 _to find me._

 _Love you,_

 _Wally_

It was a short message. I frowned. The frustration at not being able to join the team on missions must have been getting to him a lot more than I'd thought.

"You three are the only ones available right now. I'm unable to get in touch with Artemis, and Kaldur and Superboy are currently involved with their own crises." Batman finished tersely once he saw we had all read the letter. "You're on your own. Your GPS navigators have been updated with Kid Flash's current location via a tracker in his suit. Find him, and talk him down. Flash himself is worried, but I've convinced him not to give chase – given the psychological profile, I believe Flash's involvement would only prove detrimental to the mission."

We nodded in unison, and the video feed shut down. I paused. "Looks like you're in charge, Robin. What are your orders?" I meant it to sound slightly sarcastic, but I don't think Robin noticed.

Instead, he grinned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We had filed into the zeta tube to move to the location closest to Kid Flash's current one. He had been mostly travelling in a straight line since leaving his house, so we were using that data to get an approximate lead on his destination. There weren't any significant landmarks that we thought Wally might stop at, so Robin was having Miss Martian follow in the bioship as best she could.

We sat in tense silence, for the most part. We were all worried about Kid Flash – especially Robin. He was tapping away furiously at a data-screen on his wrist, doing his best to calculate where Wally was headed.

"Hold up guys," Robin spoke suddenly. "He's changing direction. Headed towards... The coast, looks like."

"Must be getting hungry by now." I posited, leading forward. "Think he'll stop in any nearby towns?"

"Seems likely." Robin nodded. "Alright Miss Martian, set us down just over there, we'll see if we can corner him in the town nearby."

"Got it," she replied, and the bioship angled over a nearby hill, before setting down smoothly and silently on the grassy top. We got out of our seats and exited the bioship. Miss Martian set it to stealth mode and we began making our way up the hill, Robin's focus still totally centred on his wrist-computer.

"Wait-" He said, before cursing loudly. "Dammit! He stopped in the middle of town and- crap, looks like he found the tracker! He's taken it out and- dammit. No read on his location." He paused, taking a deep breath. Me and Miss Martian exchanged looks, uneasy. We'd never seen Robin this upset before. "Alright, fine. We'll spread out. Assume he's still in town somewhere, possibly in civvies and trying to blend in. Comet's right, he's probably getting hungry round about now."

We crested the top of the hill and looked down over the town. "All right, Comet, you take the coastal area. Miss Martian, take the centre and see if you can locate him with your telepathy. I'll see if I can get anything from his most recent location." He surveyed us, and even through his distress I saw the pride he harboured at being able to command a team of his own. "You understand your roles?"

"Yessir!" I snapped out, and performed a mock military salute. Robin grinned, glad for the small amount of light-heartedness I could inject into the situation. I rose into the air and headed towards the beach-slash-coastal area. As I left, I heard M'gann reassuring Robin.

I sure hoped we found him before he did something stupid.


	10. Chapter 10

**יהוה**

Flying down by the beach area, I stayed relatively high up to hopefully avoid attention from the public. I didn't have the greatest night vision, and I hadn't thought to equip my stealth costume to get the wider sight range. Stupid, really – how was I supposed to find him if I couldn't see him?

Nevertheless, I flew determinedly, if slowly, onward, sweeping my eyes across the beach-front buildings and beach itself, searching for Wally. And as I did, I thought. I thought about everything I had done since I'd gotten here, everything I'd changed.

Wally lost a hand. It was healed, sure, but – how damaging was that to ones psychosis? To be crippled – potentially for life – only to have it immediately healed? He had expected to go out on missions again as soon as possible, not even a break inbetween losing a hand and going out on missions. Then this event that he probably figured wasn't a big deal gets blown up by his parents- who take him out of one of the most socially validating places he could be.

We'd talked about school before, but Wally had never brought up friends at the place, and he was always back to Mount Justice as soon as possible – went back home to tell his mum, maybe, then straight to the zeta tube for an extracurricular club where he risked his life, if not weekly, then daily.

The show had never really touched on the psychological problems faced by the kids – at least, not until the disastrous simulation – but these kinds of missions where having some effect, at the very least on Wally. Hell, he was probably the most normal kind among us, and he valued his time with the team a hell of a lot more than his time at home.

And Superboy... Christ, the whole situation with Doctor Fate was so fucked up. Wally hadn't been there to grab the staff, so Superboy had done so instead, and- now he was playing host to a Lord of Order that was slowly unlocking a full suite of Kryptonian abilities in his host. A magic Kryptonian – wasn't that a terrifying prospect? And I'd been the one to cause it.

But what was more terrifying was the prospect that this fucking _magic mind-controller_ would be taking over his mind and body and using him like some goddamn puppet.

All thanks to me.

I lapsed into a mental silence and continued searching for Wally.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was the one who found him in the end. He was sitting on top of one of the beach-side buildings, slowly chewing on some kind of nutrition bar he had for long journeys. I wasn't... _totally_ sure how he had managed to get up there – did that running up walls thing actually work? I thought it was just some BS comic book physics thing – but he wasn't doing much of anything, just staring out to sea. I flicked my broadcaster a few times to get Robin's attention, then dropped down just behind Wally.

"Hey." I said simply, perhaps a little uncertainly.

Wally jerked immediately to his feet, spinning around with unnatural speed the second I made noise. He blurred into a combat stance, facing me- then dropped it as soon as he saw who it was.

"Alex." He said, breathing a sigh of relief. "For a moment I thought – never mind."

"That I was the Flash?" I inquired, not moving forward.

Wally shrugged one shoulder and dropped back to where he was sitting. "Something like that."

"Wally-" I began, moving forward with one arm outstretched.

" _Don't._ " He replied harshly, then seemed to force himself to calm down. "Just- don't."

I moved slowly down next to him and took a seat, my legs dangling over the lip of the building. "You wanna- um- talk about it?" I asked hesitantly.

He let out a small laugh. I took it as a victory. "Sure. Why the hell not. Get counselling from the freaking space rock."

I paused. "Uhhhh..."

He looked over at me with a somewhat condescending look in his eye. "Cause you're Comet...?"

I paused. "Oh."

"Wow."

"Hey, I didn't-"

"Wow."

"Oh, shut up."

Wally laughed, and I cracked a smile. I felt like we'd moved past the awkward moment of whether he'd be comfortable talking about his feelings – mainly thanks to him, but I had contributed... Somewhat.

"Do you wanna talk?" I asked after a short moment of silence.

"Not really..." He said, and I winced. "But I figure you've already signalled someone to come and get me, so why the hell not?"

I remained silent for a moment, a guilty look on my face. "Why did you run, Wally?"

"... I..." He laughed abruptly, the cut himself off just as quickly. "Running, huh? That's what got me into the whole superhero biz. All because I wanted to be the Flash's sidekick. Then I was on the team, and now I can't do either."

"Well, you-" I began, only to get cut off by Wally once more.

"-Faced no more risk than any of you, but Batman doesn't say anything about you guys leaving the team, does he?!" Wally leapt to his feet. I shifted uncomfortably.

"I'm stuck at home listening to my mom complain about how loud the neighbours are when I _know_ the team is out there saving hundreds of lives! And I could be _helping_ , but instead I'm stuck doing my freaking English homework and explaining why, 'Iago was not a mastermind but a villain of opportunity!' Pointless _bullshit_ that's just a waste of time!" He heaved out a few breaths before continuing. "And to make matters worse, I'm eating _more_ now than I used to! How the hell does that work?! I sit at home, I do nothing, and this hunger just builds up instead of dying down! I need to get back out there, not just to help other people, but to help myself!"

"Wally..." I paused. "I agree."

"You- what?" He said, dumbfounded.

"I totally agree." I struggled to keep a straight face. "Iago was a villain of opportunity."

Wally shook his head, but I could tell he was laughing. I put a hand on his shoulder. "Seriously, Wally." I said, looking straight at him. "I get it, and I agree. Before I joined the team, I just stayed at my apartment all day trying to find a job. Now? I couldn't _imagine_ going back to that, not in a million years. I get it – but running isn't the answer."

"But-"

"Running away from your problems isn't going to help- if anything, it'll just make them worse. You need to confront it, tell your parents that you need to help people, and convince them to let you back on the team!"

"But _how_?!" He practically yelled.

"Wally." Robin's voice came from behind the speedster. Wally spun around to see Robin standing on the edge of the roof, Miss Martian floating just behind and above him with a pitying look on her face.

"Robin?" Wally asked. "Uh, how much did you...?"

"Enough." Robin cracked a smile. "Enough to know that I haven't been upholding my end of this whole 'friendship' thing."

"Heh." Wally replied, sagging slightly in exhaustion. "Well, I guess haven't exactly made it easy for you."

"Well, we can both start getting better now." Robin suggested, marching forward and slinging an arm around Wally's shoulder. "Come back to the cave. We'll talk to Batman, get this mess sorted out. You down?"

Robin held out a fist to the side. Wally looked at it for a moment, a smile slowly breaking out on his face. "I'm down," he grinned, and bumped fists with his friend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We returned to Mount Justice triumphant, and Wally and Robin disappeared almost immediately to speak to Batman. That left me, and M'gann to sit back and relax. M'gann, apparently, didn't see things that way – instead, she immediately got to work cooking.

I knew that she got most of her knowledge of Earth from an old TV show, but... Does she really have nothing else to do?

"I'm so glad Wally might be finally rejoining the team." She spoke up suddenly.

"Yeah, we could've used a speedster on some of our more recent missions." I replied, reclining on the couch and flicking on the TV.

"It's not just _that_ ," she said exaggeratedly. "He's, y'know, the one who always grabs souvenirs. And he's always joking around, right? He's like the team clown!"

"I don't know how much Wally would appreciate that nickname, but I suppose you're right." I said absently, flicking past a few news stations idly.

With that, we lapsed into a semi-comfortable silence. A report about some seismic activity of some kind in the ocean was blaring out, drowning the sound of M'gann chopping up vegetables.

Eventually however, even that grew boring, and I began to drift off to sleep – only to be rudely awaken.

"I cam as soon as I heard." Superboy said evenly, striding in and pulling off the Helmet of Fate. "What's the emergency?"

Me and M'gann looked at each other uncomfortably. "Ah," I began hesitantly. "We, uh, solved it without you." I gave him an uncomfortable smile. "Better luck next time?"

"... Right." Superboy said, shifting slightly. I couldn't decipher his expression, but a guess he felt somewhere between guilty and annoyed. "Well, I guess I'll just... Get back to it then." He began to put on the Helmet once more.

"Wait!" M'gann cried, and he paused. "Um... Why don't you stay for dinner?"

"... Sure." Superboy replied, a miniscule smile breaking out on his face.

I observed the two, smiling shyly at each other, and barely stopped myself from laughing aloud.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Me and Superboy helped out M'gann with the meal after that, trying to get it finished in time for Wally and Robin's return. That only really served to make things worse – I had no idea what I was doing, and mostly stood around pointlessly, whilst Superboy actively detracted from the cooking – he kept getting in the way of M'gann's telekinetically controlled foodstuffs, so eventually we banished him from the kitchen and made him set the table.

It was fun, oddly enough. I'd never been a particularly good cook – I could follow instructions, but improvisation wasn't a strong point. Or at least, whatever it was that meant I wasn't a good cook. Working with M'gann was fun, though. She was incessantly cheery and optimistic, and chattered virtually non-stop about whatever came to mind. Despite the fact that I normally hated people like that, M'gann was so naïve that it came off endearing.

Superboy seemed happy to remain in silence, offering the occasional grunt in response to the fairly random questions M'gann would throw out.

Thankfully we made it through the meal without too much going wrong, and by the time we were finished and laying the dishes out, Robin and Wally had returned in high spirits.

Wally was silent for a few moments.

"I'm back in, boys and girls!" He cheered, throwing his arms up.

The celebrations lasted pretty long into the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aqualad returned six days later to the news that Wally was officially back on the team, and that, apparently, so was he. There had been some uncertainty after he had disappeared to Poseidonis for six days, but he was back to assure us that we were stuck with him.

Of course, there was no downtime following Aqualad's return – almost immediately Batman informed us that we had a new mission.

"The Watchtower detected an _immense_ power surge in the Bialyan desert," he began.

As everyone focused in on the briefing, I couldn't help but think to myself that maybe – just maybe – I hadn't screwed things up as badly as I thought I had.


End file.
